Introducing, The Swarm
by WhiteFluffyCat
Summary: Inspired by East Bridge. A freak accident leads to the death of Darren Miller, an 18 year old nerd. He finds himself on an unknown world with nothing except the clothes on his back when he died and a strange urge to start a colony. A colony by the name of The Swarm.
1. Chapter 1

A loud gasp was heard from the clearing as Darren Miller woke up. He breathed heavily as he felt air push in and out of his lungs, and slowly over the course of a few minutes, his breathing slowed to a more manageable manner. He laid back down and closed as he began to remember what happened before he woke up.

He began his day with a bit of StarCraft to get himself ready to deal with today. A few online rounds as Zerg to deal with Terran dogs and Protoss scum and he was ready to go. He dressed himself and took a quick look in the mirror. He was of Chinese descent but was born in America at 18 years old with short black hair, brown eyes with glasses, a light tan, and a slightly muscular build at a height of 6 feet and an inch. He wore a black shirt and blue jeans along with brown hiking sneakers. Overall, he had a nerdy look to him, but he was damn proud of it as well.

He took an apple with him for a light breakfast as he left his apartment off his way to college to prepare for classes. As he took his time to get there, it wasn't much of a walk really, he heard a cry of shock. Out on the street to his left a young girl had ran out onto the road as a truck was about to hit her. Her mother tried to run and save her daughter, but she wouldn't make in time. But Darren could make it.

In a quick sprint he pushed the girl out of the way and into her mother's arms but was hit by the truck instead. He blacked out and woke a few moments later to blurry vision and a distant sound of screaming.

_Huh, _he thought to himself, _this really isn't so bad. Can't feel anything either. Weird._

He slowly turned his eyes to where he heard the screaming seeing the mother her eyes wide open with her hand over her mouth still screaming in shock. His eyes panned down to the girl with her mother's other arm wrapped around her. She seemed shocked at the boy who had saved her from death. She mouthed the words, "thank you" in his direction and Darren smiled slightly as he saw that.

_Well, I guess I did something right. I wonder what's next, _Darren thought as his consciousness slowly slipped away into darkness.

Then he saw light.

He opened his eyes as he began to contemplate his situation.

_So, I died. Am I in Heaven or something? Can't be Hell, _he thought to himself as he took a quick look at his surroundings, _pretty sure Hell is more fire and brimstone and not trees, grass, and water._

He found himself in a clearing next to a running river with a forest surrounding him. The area seemed flattened out with a decent amount of ground. Darren got up and walked over to the edge of the river and looked down at his reflection. He looked fine. No visible scarring on him, no broken bones, not a scratch. He went to pinch himself and felt a small sting.

_Okay so not dead, Heaven, or, thank God, Hell, _he thought to himself as he started walking towards the center of the clearing. _Now I just need to figure out where the hell I am._

Suddenly he felt a strange pulling sensation direct him. He felt some sort of need to dig his hands into the middle of the clearing. His body moved and directed him as he willingly gave himself to the strange instinct. As his hands went into the dirt, he felt an energy move from his hands into the ground. When he pulled away a small mass of fleshy substance covered by a thin film of transparent skin began to pulsate in the dirt.

Darren walked a distance away from the weird thing growing in the ground. He wasn't afraid of it strangely enough, in fact, he felt a sort of joy encompass him as he laid down on the ground, his eyelids feeling heavy as he began to pass out. He fell asleep to a light and calming tune coming from the direction of the fleshy mass.


	2. Chapter 2

Darren woke up again, this time in response to a poking at his consciousness. It wasn't a stabbing pain into his head, more like how a pet tries to gain the attention of its master just to know it's being paid attention to. He opened his eyes to see something absolutely shocking making him stand straight up in an instant.

The small mass of flesh had been replaced by a towering building made of flesh and bone. Five mouth like openings were separated in a circle by five bone like protrusions that pointed towards the sky. At the top sat another mouth with five more bone like protrusions that seemed to be breathing in tandem with the building's movements. Darren couldn't believe his eyes though with what he saw.

_That's a freaking Hatchery from StarCraft! What the hell!?_ He ran from one end to the other around the Hatchery and back to where he started. As his thoughts ran at what he was seeing, he felt another poke at his consciousness stopping him from making more thoughts about the situation. He focused more on the poking and found that it came from the direction of the Hatchery. He sensed concern radiate from the building as he inspected it. Instinctively he sent back reassurances that seemed to please the building as it started to, in lack of better words, "breathe" happier.

Darren calmed down again as he started to decide what to do. He then noticed the ground under him and was slightly awed. The ground was covered in a purple mass that stretched out toward the trees on the edges of the clearing. He focused on the creep below him and felt the creep pulling nutrients from the soil and enhancing the few trees that it touched near the clearing. Unlike how in StarCraft the creep would make the plant life wither away, this creep seemed to be helping the trees become healthier and in turn pull in more nutrients leading into a healthy symbiosis.

He stopped focusing on the creep and decided to begin recounting everything that he could about the Zerg from StarCraft and what goals to set for himself now. First, he needed resources and while nutrients from the earth around him would work for now, it wasn't a long-term solution in case of emergencies and just in general. Second, he needed a way to defend himself from attacks. He didn't know where he was, and it was safe to assume that everything wouldn't be peaceful forever. And that brought him to the last problem, figure out where the hell he was. Everything looked normal so far, but, if this wasn't Earth than he needed to know everything about the area fast.

Darren began to focus inward on unit making. He knew that larva from the Hatchery would be able to turn into a variety of things but first he needed drones or maybe an overlord or two. He found he could also order zerglings as well without the need of a spawning pool.

_Well, _Darren thought to himself, _I'll take what I can get._ He focused on making some drones first to scout out the area on the ground and put in an order for two overlords along with some zerglings for good measure. Some larva fell from one of the openings in the Hatchery and began to curl in on themselves while an egg grew around them. Darren sat down and began to wait as the eggs gestated.

After about 30 minutes the first eggs began to hatch. Three drones and eight zerglings cracked out of the eggs, and with a quick mental order from Darren, they lined up in front of him. The drones were flat creatures with membrane that seemed to slightly hover above the ground with two pincers in front and a bug like head in front. The zerglings stood on four legs with two arms like protrusions that arched from their backs towards the front and ended in sharp points. They looked like plate covered, bug like dogs with a long reptilian tail at the end and a dangerous looking mouth with sharp canine teeth.

A quick feel with his mind brought to light some interesting things about the mental facilities of the units in front of him. Drones felt empty and subservient, awaiting their next orders while zerglings felt like excited dogs ready to run at a moment's notice.

_I want two zerglings to go with each drone as they scout for more resources and the last two zerglings to scout the general area._ No sooner than he gave the order did the units go to please their master. The lone zergling pair shot off quickly while the drones were escorted by their zergling pair.

An hour later the two overlords finished gestating and floated above the Hatchery. They looked like large ten-foot-tall bulbous creatures with two overly large pincers hanging from the front and legs uselessly trailing under them. They felt perpetually bored just floating around the area looking at the area around them.

_One of you go north and I want the other to go in the opposite direction,_ Darren ordered as the overlords followed the directions.

Darren began to scan the area again until he felt a prodding from the lone zergling pair. He focused in on one of the two and soon found himself looking through a new pair of eyes. But before he had time to marvel at that he noticed what the zerglings were looking at while hidden in the bushes.

A small six-year-old girl was huddled against a tree trapped by what seemed to be a bear sized wolf with blue fur as it growled at her. She had blond hair and pale skin with blue eyes. She shook I terror as the bear wolf stalked closer to the girl. Her eyes squeezed shut as she curled to the ground as she screamed.

"Help me!"


	3. Chapter 3

Angie was just searching around the forest for a way out. She was out earlier with her big sister gathering fruits for their parents when she got distracted by a butterfly. When it flew away she found herself in the middle of nowhere. After some searching she found herself trapped by a Beta Wolf, nearly being an Alpha Wolf.

She closed her eyes and screamed.

"Help me!"

As the Beta Wolf closed in for the kill a blur shot out if the bushes and tackled the wolf on its side. Angie opened her eyes as she heard the scuffle and saw a strange bug creature with its back to her as it hissed threateningly at the wolf.

The wolf growled back in defiance as its kill was denied by the strange creature. Suddenly another one if the creatures jumped onto the wolf's back as it dug its claws and back appendages into the wolf's vulnerable neck. The wolf let out a howl as it thrashed around and threw the bug dog off itself and swiped at it across the face.

The swipe connected, and a piece of its face armor was torn off as it was knocked backwards. As the Beta Wolf moved in to finish the fight, the one guarding Angie saw its chance and struck with a bite across the damaged neck. The wolf tried to howl again but all that came out was a watery sound as the wolf's throat clogged up with its lifeblood.

It slowed its thrashing as it died and suddenly stopped, its eyes staring at nothing. The damaged bug dog inspected the Beta Wolf as the one that killed it got close to Angie. She closed her eyes in fear waiting for the pain. She felt a snort of air on her face.

She opened her eyes only to close them again with a squeak of shock as the dog's muzzle was close to her face. Angie felt a nuzzle against her check and slowly opened her eyes to see the blood stained one pressing against her as the one with the face scar laid in its belly next to her watching her.

Angie nervously reached out and pet the one with the face scar and did so more vigorously when the weird dog's eyes closed, relaxed as its tail swisher in pleasure. She giggled as the bloodstained one began to beg for the same attention as the first leading Angie to pet both of them.

"You're not so bad, right?" Angie asked as the two dogs seemed placated.

"Angie! Where are you! Angie!" Voices frantically called out as they edged closer. The two bug dogs got up instantly and shot into the bushes, hiding from sight as a small party of humans entered the clearing.

"Angie! There you are," said a short haired blond girl of 17 said as she ran to pick up Angie, "You're covered in blood! What happened?"

"Big sister Chloe! I got lost, then there was a Wildling, then I got saved by some dogs!" She said excitedly as she punctuated her quick answers with her arms waving about.

"You were attacked!? Are you okay?" Chloe asked frantically as she inspected her sister for any injuries.

"I said some dogs helped me. I'm fine, big sister."

"Well that's a relief. Let's go home," said one of the men inspecting the dead Beta Wolf.

"Wait!" Angie said as she got out her sister's grip. "I wanna take the dogs home and show mom and dad. They did help me."

The group looked uneasy about bringing stray animals back with them. For all they knew, they could be inviting trouble. Chloe decided to take action for them.

"We can take a look at them Angie, but we'll only take them home if they aren't too dangerous, okay?"

"Okay," Angie said as she ran to the bushes calling out for the dogs. "Come out doggies, it fine! It's just my sister and a few friendly people!"


	4. Chapter 4

Darren was conflicted. On one hand he could reveal the zerglings, but while knows how the rest of the people would react. On the other running away had the benefit of no confrontation at all. After a bit of decision making, he decided to reveal the zerglings. A quick order later and the zerglings walked out of the bushes to stand next to Angie.

Chloe and the people from the village took a step back in fear as the zerglings showed themselves. They had been expecting a large dog that may have been lost from the kingdom to come out, not a strange looking bug dog hybrid.

"Angie," Chloe said in a scared whisper, "I need you to walk to me, slowly and calmly."

"But look at them," Angie said as the zerglings laid down passively. "They're nice," as Angie began to pay the zerglings on the head, their eyes closing in pleasure as they relaxed.

The village people began to calm down as the zerglings didn't make any threatening moves.

"Can I keep them Chloe? You said I could if they weren't mean," Angie said as she looked at her sister pleading for her consent.

She wasn't entirely happy about it, but Chloe did have to agree that if these were the creatures that saved her little sister, they, at the very least, deserved some thought.

"Okay, fine," Chloe said defeated as her sister got up in excitement, "But! Only mom and dad decide if they can stay," she said in finality.

"Okay," Angie drawled out a bit down that the dogs might not stay with them. The zerglings seemed to sense this and remedied that with a few nuzzles to the face. Angie's giggles calmed down the village people as they began to walk back home. The zergling with the face scar picked up Angie and put her onto his back and the two zerglings followed the people.

Darren stopped looking through the zergling's eyes and thought about what he just saw. One, there were humans so that was good. They might not all be friendly, but, something familiar was good. And two, there were strange animals that seemed varied from normal ones if the blue wolf wasn't just an outlier.

As he thought, another poke at his mind happened, this time from one of the drones. It hinted with excitement at finding something interesting.

A quick shift in perspective and he saw through the drone's eyes. He saw that the drone was looking into a cave with crystals a varying color shine on the walls. The drone traveled deeper with the two zergling bodyguards and Darren saw even bigger crystals the farther they traveled down. While it wasn't the traditional minerals, the large amount of crystals could be a supplement like the blue and gold minerals from StarCraft.

With that in mind Darren ordered a mass of crystal be brought back to the Hatchery to see if everything would go well and the drone proceeded to its work. The drone cut through the crystals easily with the use of its pincers and stuck what it cut onto its back to travel back with its quarry.

Darren went back to his own perspective and began to plan. He needed to increase the amount of creep outward toward the mine and was unsure how to do so. He sent an order to create more zerglings to protect the Hatchery and to protect a covey he had planned to reach from the Hatchery to the mine.

Some time and a few moments of self-doubt later the new zerglings and drones began to roam the area. Darren soon went over what the drone could morph into an found only a few buildings available. The drone could morph into a Hatchery, a Creep Generator, a Nydus Network, or an Evolution Chamber. The second one was what he was looking for, but it was also the one that seemed a bit strange to him. He felt that it could defend itself from harm, but he wasn't sure how.

He told the eight of the drones to morph into Creep Generators around the clearing in an octagon shape to see what would happen. Eight random drones broke off from a pack near the Hatchery and proceeded with the orders.

After that Darren began to have more overlords be made to scout out the area better to make sure of his surroundings when one of the two drones originally scouting out was suddenly cut from the connection between them. The two zerglings that accompanied the drone sent back images of a large rock like creature with six stubby legs before suddenly dying.

Darren was shocked. His units had died quicker than he could think of retaliating and he had no idea of what the opposition was before him.

_I need more information or at least a bigger army to scout at the area before I go back, _he thought. _At the very least I know what to look for._


	5. Chapter 5

After preparing to increase the coverage of the creep and adding more orders for zerglings to be made, Darren went back to oversee how the group with Angie was going.

The group had just about made it back to their village which was located a few miles from his base also in the middle of a clearing. Walls made of timber were tied together and dug into the ground, standing up straight with the tops shaved to a sharp point. The village buildings were protected by the walls while farmland could be seen around the walls along with livestock of all sorts, the most common seeming to be a purple cow like animal with feathers.

The group walked closer to the village and greeted the party of humans as they neared the gate of the village. They welcomed back the safe return of Angie and the searchers, but, most of the farmers though stared in shock or confusion at the strange animals they brought back with them. Some decided to follow the party trying to find out what the creatures might be while most others offered congratulations at finding Angie.

"Open the gate," Chloe yelled to the guards, "we found Angie!"

The gates opened, and the people inside poured out to celebrate but stopped at seeing the zerglings. They were uneasy and for good reason. These things were unknowns and unknowns usually got a person killed. Two people stepped forward from the crowd, a man with blond hair and green eyes and a woman with brown hair and blue eyes, toward the two girls who were at the front of the returning group.

"Sweetie," started the woman cautiously, "what are you sitting on?"

"They saved me from an Alpha Wolf and I want them to stay," said Angie as she got off the face scarred zergling.

With an order from Darren the scarred zergling got closer to Angie's and Chloe's parents with slow, nonthreatening movements. The village tensed and prepared for any danger's, but their fears were unfounded as all the zergling did was sit in front of them staring up at them. The mother hesitantly reached out and patted the creature on the head.

The zergling let out a guttural purring sound as it pressed its head against the mother's hand for more stroking. The other zergling in turn got next to the other, sitting down and looking at the father expectantly. The father reciprocated and gave a few short pats to the head and the zergling went to sit back Angie's side.

"Are you sure Angie," said her father as he looked over the zerglings, "we don't even know what they are."

"Has you sister voiced any worries about this," asked the mother.

"Big sister said you would decide, but she said she was fine with it too."

The parents looked at each other, a silent conversation happening in moments before turning back to Angie and Chloe with a small smile on the mother's face and a neutral one on the father's.

"We'll let you keep them," started the mother.

"But only if you promise to take care of them," finished the father.

Angie's faced beamed in joy as she hugged the zergling next to her. The other one petted by the mother ran back to Angie and ran around her in circles in its excitement.

"Thanks mom, thanks dad," Angie said as she pointed to the one with the face scars then the one she hugged. "His name is Ace, and his name is Bandit," she said with a finality that children say when they will never change their mind.

Darren decided he would let this play out and pulled back into his body. He looked around the area and decided that he need to bolster the ranks more and put in more orders for zerglings to be made along with overlords for scouting. After more drones begin gestating, he had orders for a Nydus Network and an evolution chamber.

He made sure that everything was set and then went over what he knew again. One, this wasn't Earth. Two, there were humans with primitive technology. And three, the wolf creature was a Wildling, or more specifically, an Alpha Wolf.

Darren felt the need to make more units and decided to do so the next day. He closed his eyes and went to sleep.


	6. Chapter 6

It had passed a week since the encounter with the village and all seemed well. There were few notable moments that happened throughout the week, but they were still notable nonetheless.

First, Darren finally learned, through the eyes of his zerglings in the village, where he was and what situation the current area was in. The general shape of the land had not been made as apparently no cartographer had seen a body of water larger than a lake, so no oceans had been recorded for these people ever. The village was called Counter and it resided in the western end of what was called Aleria, the Human Kingdom.

Aleria was a beautiful place but was made dangerous due to an unprecedented rise in Wildling populations. The Elves, which Darren was still shocked that they actually existed, to the west of the kingdom couldn't help with the Wildlings as apparently there were problems of their own happening in their forests they needed to deal with first. The Dwarves, located in the mountains south of Aleria, had troubles with actual dragons, who once had a lasting friendship with that was abruptly ended. The north held nothing but a hot, sandy desert, abandoned the sentient races, infamous for leading travelers astray to die of dehydration, strange Wildlings sighted by the lucky, or of the bandits that roamed the area. On the east bordered, what was once more grassland and forests, a large snowy tundra empty of life except of the hardiest creatures.

Each of the regions had their benefits like how Aleria had fertile fields for farming, the Elves had large trees for lumber and fantastic animals that could be used for a variety of uses, and the Dwarves excelled at mining for precious ores. The Dwarves also, strangely enough, ventured out into the northern deserts to search for rare materials that couldn't be found anywhere else. The eastern snow lands though were rumored to house a grand civilization that guarded an even greater treasure no one had ever seen. Many expeditions to find the civilization ended in failure as people had no clue of where to start.

The leaders of Aleria, King Indulf and Queen Catherine, had asked for help from the Elves and Dwarves but were regretfully turned away as they had to deal with their own rising problems. Thus, they began to try and find the sources of the Wilding population rises, but to no avail.

While Counter had no such problems as of late, it could change in an instant.

Second, the zerglings, now dubbed Ace and Bandit, had gained the trust of the villagers of Counter. The two had been seen following Angie and her family around often enough that they had essentially become a normal enough sight, even if they were so unnaturally quiet for their size. One of the times that the zerglings endeared themselves to the village was when Angie's family had decided to have a picnic along with some other families outside the village.

Everything had been going well until a Wildling in the shape of a large snake like creature attacked hoping for a quick meal in the form of one of the families. The villagers were unprepared and nearly paid the price for it until Ace and Bandit attacked the snake. Overall, the injuries anyone got were superficial at worst and the two zerglings were praised for their defending.

Third, he learned more about Wildlings themselves. There were two types of animals on the land. Either regular, normal animals like dogs, cats, and birds or there were Wildlings. The Wildlings could be put into five types of threat classification. The first were Beta Wildlings who were about as dangerous as their five normal animal counterparts. Alpha Wildlings were twice as deadly as a Beta and about as twice as large. Omega Wildlings were even worse than an Alpha as they became smarter but were around the same size and coloration. Demi Wildlings were so rare that only three had been confirmed to have existed ever. And then there were Deity Wildlings who were only told in legends of their ferocity and intellect. Any Wildling can usually be found on their own but there were also some that were more inclined to traveling in packs to ensure their survival.

When Darren had learned of such a possible threat he had begun spamming out units to attempt to create a large enough army which brought up the last notable thing of the week.

Darren had expanded his army from a few hundred to nearly about 50,000 in number. It would be a good start to what he could have available in a moment's notice if the worst would happen. There was also base expansion with the creation of the Evolution Chamber and the Nydus Network. He had also made more Hatcheries and Creep Generators to increase his influence.

The Evolution Chamber looked like a large two-story organ with a strange looking spine that curled around the back of the building. He had found an opening that allowed him to get inside and found himself in a sort of living laboratory. After a bit of experimentation with the place, he found that he couldn't access more units or upgrades until the Hatcheries had evolved. The evolution would apparently unlock the DNA needed for better upgrades.

The Nydus Network was about three stories tall and had a giant mouth to send in the units. The strange part was how the mouth seemed to stretch to even bigger sizes somehow without straining itself.

Creep Generators had begun to branch out from the main clearing and into the woods without any interference and the Hatcheries continued to make more units. Creep Generators looked like the sunken colonies from SC1 except there was also an attachment at the top that spewed corrosive acid at threats that were too close. They had the tendril that attacked from underground as well to surprise threats.

Darren decided to check on the progress of the crystal mine that had been established. He had found that the crystals were in fact large energy stores that had somehow crystalized into their current form. He found from the village that it was the force of what they called magic.

Magic was apparently a force on this world that many had exploited for their own gain, all in their own fashion. Humans focused on militaristic was to bend magic, Elves looked for ways to bring life, and the Dwarves used it to bend the stone to their will. There were a whole variety of ways and other applications that magic could be used, but many humans didn't try to create new magic practices as they had short lives compared to the Elves and the Dwarves were content with what they knew. This didn't stop some people, but, there were limitations with having to learn everything that magic could offer and then some.

But back to the crystals, they could be absorbed by the Hatcheries like the minerals from SC which made it easier to acquire energy than having creep improve the environment, though it was a nice bonus. Often referred to as "magi crystals" the crystals were highly coveted by all the races as finding a mine could increase a nation's economy immediately and that magic was in limited supply to the people. Pure magi crystal, like the mine that Darren found, would be refined and then made to sell across the lands for a huge profit. So, incase Darren needed more influence he could always fall back on selling the crystals to a refiner and become a reliable source.

By now with all the collecting from the crystal mine and the creeper-plant symbiosis, Darren had enough energy to evolve to the next level of Zerg. He found a good spot next to the main Hatchery and prepared for whatever would happen and began the evolution. Immediately he was enveloped in a cocoon that filled with an embryonic fluid as he slowly faded from consciousness.


	7. Chapter 7

**Feb 18 Update: I only updated the breaks in the lines so nothing new. Sorry :/**

It had passed three days since Ace and Bandit had cocooned themselves in the middle of the day right outside Angie's house when she was walking them. They were just walking back home when suddenly the two stopped and stood ramrod straight, staring straight ahead at nothing. Then they immediately curled up and a strange semi hard purple membrane pulled around them. Angie had run inside her house and sadly told her family what had happened and pulled them outside to show them.

Over those three days each of her family had tried to comfort her as she started to hang around Ace's and Bandit's cocoons. Her mother tried soothing her while she could, but it wasn't enough. Her father tried to break into the cocoons, but any tools he tried broke right the first swing. Her sister Chloe tried to distract her with little games and stories. They usually worked for a small period, but Angie always went back to worrying about the two zerglings and what happened.

In the fourth day she had been sitting near the cocoons when she noticed a faint tapping sound coming from them. Angie looked over and saw the cocoons shaking. She ran inside her house and found her family at the dinner table talk about grown up stuff, things about the king and queen.

She ran into the room and yelled excitedly, "Something's happening to Ace and Bandit!"

The three looked at each other and hurriedly followed Angie out just as the cocoons began to shake violently. Neighbors had gathered around to watch as well when Angie's family had firmly moved themselves to the front. The tapping sound had increased as suddenly a sharp crack was heard and a split was seen on the cocoons. More splits started to crack on the cocoons until it burst open, spraying purple embryonic fluid in the directions of the watchers making them turn away.

When they looked back they saw Ace and Bandit but changed. Where both had been the size of a large dog, they now stood at about four feet in height and six in length. Their claws had grown sharper and more refined along with the appendages on their backs. Ace could still be defined by his facial scars while Bandit looked overall fiercer in appearance. But the most telling part of their transformation were the two pairs of wings that had grown on their backs. They held a look like a cricket's wings in shape. Ace and Bandit fluttered their wings around trying to dry off the fluid still stuck to them as they looked around at the various villagers staring at them in awe.

"Ace! Bandit!"

An ecstatic Angie ran towards the pair, heedless of the fluid as she crashed into Ace's right shoulder and hugged it with all her childish might. Ace immediately responded by bopping the top of her head with his as he gave a light purple and Bandit went around to give a friendly huff to the side of Angie's head.

* * *

Everything felt, in lack of better words, **weird**.

When Darren woke up he felt the connection to the Swarm, but this time, it felt stronger than before. He went through a quick check and found that he didn't need of focus as much as before to look through the eyes of his units, though all he saw was purple fluid. He felt like he floated in the cocoon for a while until he began to press against the walls with his hands. It didn't give way, so he pressed harder until his left wall gave from the pressure. He focused on the hole and pulled it apart until the cocoon exploded, finally releasing him into clear daylight.

Around him similar acts happened as the Swarm began to emerge from their evolutionary slumber. The buildings grew larger and the Zerg units all had visible upgrades about them as they all emerged.

He looked toward the newly formed Lairs and saw that they had become larger with the bone spikes reaching taller than before. It gave an overall more menacing look if one didn't find the sight friendly already. There wasn't an overall change to the Nydus Network physically except that it felt "better" along with the Evolution Chamber. The Creep Generators though began to look more like a fleshy spire instead of a sunken colony. It was about ten meters in height four meters wide with spikes like the old Hatcheries at the top. There were tendrils that sprouted from the bottom like tree roots into the ground and Darren sensed that if an enemy was too close to it, the Creep Generators would defend itself by using the tendrils go whip the enemy around. The tops could fire an acid that would be able to either disable or kill enemies that were in range, though that shouldn't happen as units would still patrol the area religiously.

Which now brought to mind about the units. The zerglings looked like an evolved version of the SC2 zerglings with the wing attachments in them. Drones and overlords weren't that different and still looked the same, but they were much tougher in a fight and the overlords could now make creep, carry units, and evolve into overseers which could spawn changelings for information gathering. Darren also found that he could now access the same other DNA strands for his army, but everything still wasn't available yet.

He could now order the creation of banelings, roaches, hydralisks, and mutalisks. Banelings were rotund creatures filled with explosive green acid that could burn through anything given enough time. While seemingly large, they were deceptively fast for their size as they charged the enemy and blew up. Roaches could be described as a large car sized beast with two large pincers on its back, ready to pierce through the toughest armor. It could spit acid at a large rate for a ranged option if need be. They also worked as wonderful shock troops to disorientate enemy combatants and further disrupt their lines. Hydralisks were snake like and upright with a large armored carapace that layered itself downwards to its back. Two large spiny hands served as its close quarters armament while it could also shoot poisonous spines at long distances while remaining bullseye accurate.

Finally, he took a look at himself in the nearby stream. When Darren peered at his reflection, he backed up in shock and ran his hands down his face, or rather, lack of face.

Instead of smooth skin he was covered in a large black carapace armor that went from head to toe and there didn't seem to be any sort of gaps in it. His legs were covered in black carapace that were shaped like armored boots while his hands were covered in gauntlets of carapace that ended with sharp claws at his fingertips. His torso was covered in layered black carapace that went with his every movement and it didn't restrain him in the slightest. Finally, his head was covered in black carapace shaped like a knight's helmet and the face was smoothed.

Darren poked at his face and heard a light tap where his claws met the face of his helm. As he felt around he noticed that while he continued to breathe that there wasn't any hole were his mouth or nose should be. Before he freaked out he started to rationalize what was happening.

_Don't freak out yet. Let's just think for a second. I'm part of the Swarm and I got upgraded. Good. Okay so, I'm now a walking suit of armor that doesn't have any way that I could possibly breathe. Great. Just need to get this off first _then_ I can freak out._

Just filling that train of thought for a separate occasion, Darren started to focus a bit. He began to think about the suit disappearing and willing it to go away. He looked at the reflection in the stream and saw the black carapace slowly shrinking down in size until his own features started to fade in. About five seconds later and he was normal again along with his clothes. He thought about the suit coming back and it immediately popped back into existence around him in an instant. A few more tries later and he seemed to have a handle on changing forms from normal to armored.

He turned away from the stream and walked back to the Lairs, intent to bolster his forces with the new Zerg units until he received an alert from an overlord that was making its patrols. A quick change in perspective and Darren saw what spooked the overlord.

A large pack of Wildlings were making their way through the forest. They all had the same shape as the one Wildling that had killed a drone and zergling pair earlier. From what he could see the pack consisted of about 15 Betas and were led by an Alpha. While the Betas had smooth shells with a few nicks here and there, the Alpha seemed absolutely battle scarred. There were signs of battle all over it like scars from swords around its legs and a large gash in its left side.

While Darren watched them, he noticed that the direction they were moving in was towards the village that Angie, Ace, and Bandit lived in. He snapped back to his own perspective and started ordering the new units to gestate while he decided on how to approach the situation.


	8. Chapter 8

Angie had been overjoyed at seeing that Ace and Bandit were completely fine, and even better, they were bigger than before! She was just enjoying her day with them until one of the hunters who were looking for game ran into the town square and started yelling about something coming towards them.

She couldn't hear exactly what he said but it seemed to make her parents and sister scared. Her family, along with Ace and Bandit, had ran back home and went into the basement. Her father had grabbed an old spear that she had seen him use before, and when asked why he had it, he told her about his time as an old soldier who had served the kingdom until he retired to live a farmer's life with her mother when her sister had been born. Before he ran back out he looked at his family before closing the doors behind him. Angie asked her mother what was wrong but all she said was, "It's nothing sweetie. We just need to be prepared is all. It's going to be alright."

Angie had been in the basement for the past few minutes or so playing with Ace, Bandit, and Chloe while her mother was looking over a dagger until the zerglings suddenly stopped and looked in a certain direction. When she was about to ask the two what was wrong they shot towards the basement doors and smashed right through without stopping. Angie, Chloe and their mother looked at the scene in shock until they all rushed towards the entrance and saw the Ace and Bandit running towards the village gate and the faint sound of fighting. Before Angie's mother could get Angie and Chloe back into the basement, Angie ran off to see what got the zergling's attention while her mother called for her to come back before chasing after her along with Chloe. The zerglings ran up the stairs where they shocked a few of the lookouts that were using bows and arrows to help their comrades when Ace and Bandit jumped from the top of the gate and into the fray. Angie got up there in time and saw just what had the village on the defensive.

Any able-bodied man was equipped with what things they could use as weapons from rusty swords and spears to farming tools to defend against a large pack of Rock Eater Wildlings. Rock Eater Wildlings were large and bulbous creatures that had six stubby legs to move through their environment. Their grey coloration made them easily identifiable, but only on the move. Most could be found by accident as they rested for decades and were often mistaken as boulders that had suddenly been found. A typical diet for these creatures consisted of the magi crystals that were usually found underground, but they could also eat the flesh of other creatures if need be. To see one moving around was rare, a whole pack was nearly unheard of. The only reasons that a pack would be on the move would be a migration as their magi crystal feeding ground had either been compromised or depleted.

As Angie's mother and sister caught up, they stopped and saw the fighting that was taking place. Small skirmishes were being fought as while the villagers outnumbered the Rock Eaters four to one, the Wildlings had their hard shell to protect themselves from the villagers' makeshift weapons. A couple of Betas had been taken down thankfully, but at the cost of some villagers. One Wildling was trying to crush a villager when suddenly Angie's father charged it and got a well-placed hit in its neck. He pulled out the spear and quickly capitalized on the creature's shock with more stabs to the neck. The Wildling let out a death rattle and fell to the floor dead from its wounds.

Even with the killing of three Rock Eaters the overall fighting was still not in favor of the villagers. Of the 60 men that went to fight, only 30 remained as the tough armor of the Wildlings deflected many of the blows and arrows that impacted them. The only ones able to wound the Wildlings were those with hammers or the lucky ones who found gaps in the armor. Many of the villagers died either from being crushed underfoot by the Rock Eaters or were caught in the jaws of one of the creatures.

As Angie's father turned from his kill to survey the fighting, he was smacked from behind and sent tumbling from a glancing blow from one if the Betas. If rushed his prone form and was about to crush his head like a grape under its foot when Ace and Bandit tackled the creature from its side, making the foot about to crush Angie's father's head slam to the side a hair's breadth from his head.

The two zerglings worked in tandem to bring down the Beta. As Ace distracted the Wildling with growls and probing swipes, Bandit waited for an opening to strike. The Rock Eater made a move to crush Ace, but the zergling dodged out of the way making the Wildling overextend itself. Bandit saw his opportunity and with a shriek he charged the overextended leg of the creature and stabbed into the vulnerable joint of the leg. The Wildling let out a pained moan as it tried to retreat but Bandit continued to stab into the flesh until the limb was cut off from the body. The Rock Eater's balance was off and with a defeated groan it fell over to its side, its soft underbelly exposed. Ace and Bandit capitalized on that moment before the Wildling could upright itself and clawed into the creature's belly, giving it a bloody death.

Angie's father recovered and stood back up ready to keep going after giving a thankful nod towards the zerglings after their kill.

"We're dropping like flies out here!" a worried voice shouted.

"By the gods, we're going to die!"

"I'm getting out of here! I need to get may fam-"

_**CRUNCH**_

All fighting stopped as the unfortunate man was crushed. Every person turned to towards the sound and stared in shock, some dropping their weapons open mouthed in horror.

A 20-foot-tall Rock Eater stood among them and stared at the remaining villagers and the village beyond. It had a silver coloration that shined in the sunlight which only served to highlight the number of scars on its body. Obviously, a veteran of many battles, it made the defenders waver even worse as they slowly began to shuffle their way back to the gate of the village. The Wildling's eyes spotted the four dead Rock Eaters of its pack and it released a bellowing cry that seemed to shake the ground itself.

GWAAAR**RRRRRRGH!**

That was the straw that broke the camel's back.

The remaining defenders' moral broke and everyone ran back to the village fearing for their lives. The only ones who didn't break were Angie's father and the two zerglings that stood next to him, one on each side, growling in retaliation against the oncoming remaining pack of Rock Eaters and the Alpha.

The people on the gate fired their arrows as fast as possible without hit their comrades to try and cover their escape, but the hard shells of the Rock Eaters protected them too well to be pierced. Some of the villagers that ran back to the village gate were crushed underfoot by the advancing Wildlings due to them being so closely packed together as they retreated causing more pandemonium in their panic. Angie's father surveyed the area and spotted his family staring at him in horror at the situation unfolding in front of them. He shouted at them, willing them to escape while they could.

"Take Angie and Chloe out of here, Miranda! You need to go, now!"

"No!" Miranda cried in desperation. "I won't leave you here Jack!"

"We don't have a choice Miranda. I'll try to keep them busy for as long as possible. And you two," he said as he turned away to face the zerglings at his side, "keep my family safe."

All he got in response from the zerglings was a quick snort as they both dug in and let out a screech as the oncoming Rock Eaters. Shaking his head in acceptance, Jack took one last look at his family and turned back to the Wildling pack with a determined look, ready to face anything to protect his family.

Just as Jack was about to charge the pack a loud screeching filled the area making the Wildlings stop in their tracks and the villagers halt in their efforts to escape. As one, the Rock Eaters turned towards the forest they exited from and a horde of zerglings poured out, charging towards the Wildlings. The Wildling pack in turn charged the oncoming horde, leaving the villagers safe from any external threats for the moment.

Jack and the other villagers continued to stare in shock at what seemed to be an endless wave of creatures, like Ace and Bandit, attacked the Rock Eaters without slowing down. The first of the horde died due to the Rock Eater's large limbs as they were crushed underfoot, but soon the Wildlings were surrounded by the zerglings. When one of the Wildlings focused on a side to fight, the opposite side of zerglings would push in, damage the larger creature, fall back as the Wildling focused on the new threat, and the process continued until a Rock Eater was killed.

The pack was whittled down in no time until the Alpha Wildling was all that remained. The Alpha's hide was too tough for the teeth and claws of the zerglings and the Wildling killed zerglings in droves, but the spots were filled quickly by more zerglings eagerly trying to kill the threat.

Jack watched in awe as the pack that threatened to destroy the village were dwindled to the Alpha Rock Eater by the intervention of the horde of creatures like Ace and Bandit when a quick shout from one of the archers got his attention.

"Look! In the forest," the archer pointed in the direction, "I can see someone coming out!"

Everyone watching soon turned toward where the man was pointing at and Jack could make out a tall humanoid figure shadowed in the trees steady walking towards the clearing. A few moments more and the figure was revealed. At 6 feet and 4 inches high it seemed to tower over all of the men in the village and it was covered in armor much like the carapace of the zerglings, only it was black in color and more streamlined giving it an elegant yet deadly look. To the villagers the man, as that could only be what it was if it wasn't some new Wildling, was the very picture of an evil overlord as the zerglings seemed to part for the man as he walked through them as easily as a stream of water.

The man looked toward the Alpha and, as if carried by the wind itself, charged the Alpha Rock Eater.


	9. Chapter 9

_Okay, what the hell am I going to do_, Darren thought to himself as he began charging towards the Wildling, _it's freaking huge and none of the zerglings have this handled, none of my other units would get here in time after their gestation, and I have no idea how to fight this thing. I'm probably going to die._

And on that happy note, Darren rammed his body into the right side of the Rock Eater as it was distracted by the zerglings harassing it. A loud crunching sound and a roar of pain signaled to everyone that the resulting charge left some damage to the Wildling. It stumbled to the left, but it didn't tip over to expose its soft underbelly. The Wildling, in response to the attack, flailed its legs on the right side of its body which resulted in the deaths of a few zerglings. Darren recovered just in time as the Wildling's legs began stomping in his general area and dodged out of the way.

The Alpha turned in Darren's direction and it suddenly **moved**. Before he knew what happened, Darren was sent flying by the Wildling's charge and smashed into the trees outlining the clearing, breaking some in half in his flight. He laid on the ground dazed as he tried to figure out what just happened.

_Ow_, Darren thought as he mentally went over the damage to his body, slightly wiggling his toes and fingers to make sure everything still worked, _Damn, thing hits like a truck_.

He got up and saw that the Wildling was moving towards him, though at a slower pace than before. Whatever happened earlier seemed to tire the Alpha Rock Eater as it seemed somewhat sluggish in its movements. Quickly he sent the remaining zergling horde to distract the Rock Eater as he devised a plan to take down the Wildling.

_How the hell am I gonna take this thing down? I crushed part of its hide on the right, but the damage looked superficial. I could try to hit it in that area again, but I'm not sure it would do anything, and I only surprised it earlier. I need a better distraction than the zerglings and something to end this quickly._

Darren looked around the area and his eyes fell upon Angie's father Jack. He was still standing guard at the gate with his spear looking at the fighting with a bit of worry. Whether it was because of the Wildling or the zerglings, he didn't know.

"Hey!" Darren yelled at the man, startling him, "I need some help taking this thing down! Can you distract it maybe?"

Jack seemed unsure for a moment, but he looked toward the Alpha then to his family up on the wall. He turned back to Darren with a determined look and nodded as he seemed to ready himself for a fight once again.

"Great! I'll get a path cleared for you and when you see your chance, take it and I'll take the Wildling down, got it?"

Jack nodded again.

Darren turned back to the zerglings harassing the Rock Eater and sent a command to make a path for Jack discreetly so as not to get the attention of the Wildling. Jack waited for his chance to strike as he inched closer to the Wildling currently trying to stomp on the zerglings pestering it from killing its prey. A small turn and Jack saw his chance to strike.

Quickly sprinting towards the Rock Eater, he came around from the left of it and steadied himself. The Wildling noticed the movement and began turning in Jack's direction just as Jack hurled the spear towards one of its eyes.

The spear struck true and lodged itself deep into the left eye of the Wildling making it roar in pain as it began stomping wildly and thrashing its head around in a vain attempt to dislodge the offending object. The Alpha Rock Eater's mindless thrashing killed several of the zerglings surrounding it in a vain attempt to kill the man that had grievously wounded its eye, but Jack's previous training as a soldier of the kingdom allowed him to fall back without injury. Jack retreated back towards the gate and looked over to Darren with a nod giving him the signal that he did all he could in the situation.

With a nod in return, Darren took one more look at the Alpha Rock Eater. Forming a quick plan, he ordered his zerglings to retreat back into the surrounding forests and to be ready in case Darren failed to kill the Wildling. As the zerglings carried out his orders Darren rushed towards the Wildling once again and aimed for the spear lodged in the Rock Eater's eye. The Wildling turned to chase after the zerglings, but in doing so gave Darren his opening to strike. With a quick leap, Darren launched himself towards the Rock Eater's head from the Wildlings newly acquired blindside and steadied himself on top.

The Rock Eater, feeling the newly acquired weight, began to thrash its head around to dislodge the obstruction that dared impede its will to crush the smaller creatures. Darren held on tight as he was shaken from one side to the other as he knew that he was in a prime spot to end this fight from continuing any longer. Slowly, he crawled forward on top of the Wildling's head, getting closer and closer to his target. Soon he grabbed the spear lodged in the Wildling's eye, and with a yell of victory, he plunged the spear deeper into the Rock Eater's skull and straight through its brain. The Wildling let out one last roar of defiance as it raised its head to the sky, then its body crashed to the ground as it died.

Darren, still holding onto the weapon lodged in the massive Wildling's eye, jiggled the spear around while sitting on the Rock Eater's head and, after making doubly sure that the Wildling was dead, hopped off it and pulled the gore covered spear out of the Rock Eater's head and held the spear in both hands. He did a quick mental count of the remaining group of zerglings he brought with him and found about half of his forces left from the fighting. It would be a small drain on his army, but he figured he could rebuild everything and them some in a day.

As he looked around the empty battleground he noticed Jack walking toward him while giving him a slightly wary look as if Darren would use the spear on him. Realizing that the way he was holding the weapon may have come off as threatening, he quickly held it out to the older man trying to show that he was handing the spear back. Jack looked over to the spear and back to Darren as he accepted his weapon back and placed the butt-end of the spear on the ground in a resting position.

"Thank you for saving us Magi," Jack said with a quick nod of his head to Darren. "This village and I are forever in your debt. May I ask for the name of the man who saved us and why you are here at humble Counter, sir?"

Darren wondered for a second about why he had been called a Magi until he remembered one of the things about this world's system of magic. The rare people who could perform magic were called Magi and were separated into three broad schools of magic that helped narrow down certain magical paths.

The first school was Conjuration magic which could vary from the conjuration of fire, water, and various other elements to the conjuration of common household items like clothing or furniture. Conjuration magic was the easiest of schools to learn as there were multiple spells that are easy to cast at a low cost to magi crystals. The downside of Conjuration magic was the difficulty due to the massive number of spells one needed to memorize.

The second school was called Restoration magic and it focused on how to use magic to heal. A Magi could heal wounds from a small cut to completely amputated limbs if their magic was strong enough and if they made it in time. Restoration magic used to be labeled as a subcategory of Conjuration magic until researchers found that when Magi healed others, the caster did not produce anything. Rather, the magic seemed to promote rapid healing in the body or at a localized point where the Magi focused on. Those who choose the Restoration magic school primarily focused on their studies rather than split their attention to another school if magic.

The last school was known as Summoning magic, arguably the hardest magic to learn and master as most, if not all, Magi who chose this school would usually spend their entire lives to perfect even a single spell from this school. Summoning magic was also extremely taxing as it required vast amounts of magi crystals and nearly all the reserves of magic that a Magi could wield to even power a single summoning. The creatures summoned could range from any living thing like rabbits, which could be used to spy on others, to demons and otherworldly beasts never seen or heard about. The most powerful and notorious Magi came from the school of Summoning magic as any otherworldly creatures summoned usually brought great harmony or destruction throughout the lands.

Each of the known races in this world had a form of racial specializations as well. Human and Dwarven Magi had a talent for Conjuration magic with Humans usually focusing on destructive purposes while Dwarves focused on their mountains and were more generally in tune with nature. Elves on the other hand were usually far more gifted with Restoration magic that they used to heal the land and to maintain its majesty from whatever may harm the nature within their borders. Summoning magic was equal for anyone who tried, though there are the occasional people who are more gifted in this school than others leading to the idea that Magi who focused on Summoning magic were the best of the Magi.

Darren realized that the soldier turned villager was still waiting for a response and he decided not to correct Jack's assumption that he was a Summoning Magi so as to make future interactions easier.

"My name is Darren Miller and I'm here only because of the Wildling pack. I was hunting them down and it was only by luck that I made it in time after finding out that your village was in the way. Also, if it wasn't thanks to you giving me the help I needed with the distraction and your spear being in the Rock Eater's eye, then we probably wouldn't be here talking right now. Really, it was because of you that we won today."

"You honor me, Magi Darren. I am happy to have been of service."

"Alright, I'm just going to get this out of the way. Just refer to me as Darren. I'm not the kind of person who needs all that special treatment."

"Um… are you sure Magi Darren?" Jack asked with a questioning look. It was secret that most Magi had a severe case of hubris as they were, as they said, "the gifted few" who could perform magic of any sort.

"Absolutely," Darren said attempting to show that he was genuine, "And while we're at it, may I ask what your name is? I'd like to know the name of the person who's spear I used."

The man in question straightened and fell into a salute that he seemed very familiar with. "I am Jack, a former soldier of King Indulf and Queen Catherine, rulers of great Aleria."

"Nice to meet you, Jack," Darren said as he held out a hand. Jack looked at the offered hand for a second before shaking it. When Jack looked back at Darren, Darren could see a small measure of respect in the man's eyes. After releasing Darren's hand, Jack gestured to the village behind him where the gates had opened with the rest of the villagers watching them.

"Please, let me introduce you to Counter. I'm sure that everyone would like to know who helped save the village," Jack said as he began walking toward the gates, "If you would follow me."

With a nod of his head, Darren walked alongside Jack. Discreetly though, he sent an order for the remaining zerglings waiting in the forest to patrol the area.

_I want all of you to scout the area carefully. The fighting may have brought some unwanted attention to us. Alert me if anything catches your attention._


	10. Chapter 10

**Feb 18 Update: I only updated the breaks in the lines so nothing new. Sorry :/**

Darren starred up into the night sky on the wooden battlements of the gate as he thought about how the day had passed by. Hectic wouldn't even begin to describe what had happened. First, he discovered what the first evolution gave him and his Swarm, next he fights an Alpha Wildling by blindly crashing into it, then to top it all of he finally meets the villagers of Counter. He wasn't sure what to expect from the villagers but, he decided that overall it went well.

* * *

-After the Rock Eater's death-

_Well this is awkward_, was the first thought that manifested Darren's head when he was introduced to the villagers. All the people had started staring at him the moment he walked through the gates of Counter. Darren's entrance was met with complete silence by the people as Jack spoke to the villagers.

"Everyone, I'd like you all to meet Magi Darren Miller of the Summoning School of Magic, or simply Darren as he prefers to be called. This one was the person who helped save our village with the wave of creatures like Ace and Bandit earlier." As Jack finished the short introduction, the whispers started.

"This guy's a Magi? He looks weird."

"You hear what Jack said? He said the Magi controlled those beasts earlier!"

"I thought Magi wear robes? He's wearing armor like those creatures."

"What's he going to for now? You think he's gonna demand something?"

"He's probably gonna demand fealty or something. Heard Magi do that or something?"

"What if he's a wildling like those things outside? We don't know if he's even human."

It was at this point that Darren realized that he had never taken off his "helmet" without also taking off the armor since the evolution earlier. He wasn't exactly sure how to as well since the armor was really an exoskeleton of extremely tough organic bone that had been improved over time. Also, it was kind of stuck to him.

As the whispering from the villagers continued, Darren's hands moved to the side of his head. He, for lack of a better word, "willed" the helmet to come off his head without sinking back into his skin. The villagers noticed his movements and stopped their whispering in favor of watching the newcomer reveal himself to them.

The helmet came off and revealed a young-looking man with foreign features, a surprise to many of the people. Magi were taught magic at a young age as apprentices, but, a fully-fledged Magi was usually at an older stage of life after learning all they could from their respective school and master. Thus, it was unusual to hear, much less see, a Magi who had mastered their spells so effectively.

Of course, Darren wasn't exactly a Magi, but the villagers didn't need to know about that. They could speculate all they wanted without Darren explaining too much of his abilities.

"My name is Darren Miller," he said in a calm manner that he didn't feel, "Thank you for letting me in."

* * *

-Present-

_Really it could have gone worse_, Darren thought as he examined his helmet. It was strange now that he focused on it a little more thoroughly than his initial examination on his whole armor set before. His helmet felt like a separate limb in a way. Instinctively he knew that even if his helmet was on the other side of the world right now, he could still feel it until he decided to cut the connection with a quick mental order.

A shout broke his focus and he turned to look at the celebration that was happening in the village center. A large bonfire was just lit in the middle of the area was towering high into the night with the villagers giving a cheer and dancing around it. The celebration for the survival of the village had started recently with the people being quite ecstatic about the recent events.

Darren looked around and saw that the Wildling corpses that had been collected by the villagers earlier had been prepared for a feast. Thankfully, Darren had collected some of the Wilding's himself with the help of the zerglings still in the forest after introductions had been made. While some of the villagers had remained wary of him even after revealing himself to them, a majority had calmed down to hear him out.

The consensus around the village, Jack being a huge support, was that Darren deserved some sort of reward for helping to save them from certain death. Usually this would come out to be a hefty bag of gold coins, the common accepted currency between the major players like the Elves and Dwarves, or some magi crystals, what most Magi would go for. Darren however turned down the magi crystals, he had a whole cave full anyway, and most of the gold in exchange for a few of the Rock Eater corpses that littered the front of the village.

When asked why he said it was for, "research purposes".

The toughness of the Rock Eater Wildlings was extraordinary and if an Alpha Wildling was tough on its own, then what could it mean to fight an Omega, a Demi, or, if he was unlucky, a Deity Wildling? While a large part of Darren was telling him to not intentionally find big monsters and piss them off, there was still some part that wanted to do the complete opposite. Which brought him to a question that he had stuck at the back of his mind for quite a while.

How the hell was he dealing with all this so calmly?

Sure, he could rationalize that he was always a cool-headed person since the beginning, but there should still be some sort of reaction to being "reborn". He could count exactly the amount of times he was shocked by this place all on one hand, and that included the times when he went, _huh_, at something. Looking around at the celebration, Darren spotted Jack and Miranda dancing near the bonfire along with Angie and Chloe playing with Ace and Bandit. Seeing how the family was enjoying themselves brought up memories of his parents back home.

_I wonder how they're doing right now. It has been some time since I . . . died. Wonder how everyone's doing about now._ Darren felt that he should care about what happened or how anyone back on Earth would react to his death, but he couldn't exactly bring himself to care. Maybe it was the fact that he was Zerg now or maybe it just wasn't hitting home yet that he died. Though, with the fact that his biology changed, he was betting on the first assumption.

On that line of thought, he began to focus on the bond between himself and the rest of the Swarm, finding that it was quite simple to do, like instinct. Darren didn't notice it earlier before when he was inspecting himself, but the connection between himself and his Swarm became stronger than when he first awoke. He felt more in tune with his Swarm than before and Darren could get a general sense of what his Zerg felt. The only downside of being that sometimes he forgot where his original body was as he was still new to looking through another creature's eyes, though with practice Darren was sure he could keep up.

"Mr. Darren," a timid voice called to Darren making him turn toward Angie followed by Ace and Bandit, "You look sad."

* * *

-Earlier in the day-

When Angie had first met Darren personally, Ace and Bandit had ran towards him like a pair of long lost pups to their master that nearly knocked him over in their rush. Darren had earlier been touring the village with the help of Jack until they had bumped into Jack's family where Darren was finally introduced to Miranda, Chloe, and Angie. It was slightly surreal for the family to see the two zerglings so affectionate towards a stranger as while Ace and Bandit were friendly to them, they also acted in a stoic fashion to those they had not met at first. Although it made sense to them later once Darren explained to the family that the two zerglings were part of his creatures while also giving a basic summary of what they were.

When Darren was finished explaining though, while the family seemed a bit disappointed, Angie seemed especially crushed at hearing that Ace and Bandit originally belonged to Darren. He decided to nip this problem in the bud.

"Angie," Darren said gaining her attention while settling on a knee to get at eye level, "you seem a bit sad. What's the matter?"

She looked down and mumbled an answer too low for Darren to hear. Her mother Miranda walked to Angie and put a hand on her head.

"Dear, speak up," Miranda said kindly to her second daughter. Angie gave Darren a stare.

"You're here to take Ace and Bandit. I want them to stay."

"Angie," Chloe said in a authoritative tone, "we can't just keep another person's pet."

"But I found them in the forest! They're my friends! I-"

"When did I ever say I was taking them back with me?" Everyone looked towards Darren who was still on one knee. Angie looked at Darren with wide eyes.

"You not taking them?" Angie said in a soft tone slightly in disbelief.

"They look happy enough here," Darren spoke in an equally as he patted the two zerglings, "I don't see a reason to come back yet. Besides, you're taking good care of them in my stead. I'll come back for them when I need to."

* * *

-Present-

After that short meeting Angie had been friendlier with Darren as he started teaching her about how to care for Ace and Bandit more diligently. In just a few short hours, Darren had made a lasting bond with the excitable young girl as she took to taking care of the zerglings to new heights with her greater understanding of them.

"Don't worry about me Angie," Darren said in reply to her question earlier, "I'm just thinking." Angie sat next to Darren and looked at the stars with him.

"Thinking about what?"

"Home." They stayed silent and listened to the night occasionally interrupted by a whoop from the celebration nearby.

"What are your parents like?" Angie asked.

"They're good people. Dad works with machines and Mom is an exercise fanatic."

"Do you miss them?" Darren looked towards Angie with a raised eyebrow.

"What makes you say that?"

"You looked sad when you looked over at us. Like you missed someone." Darren had to give the credit. She nearly got it.

"Well," Darren started, "I was thinking about my parents, yes. But I'm not sad about not seeing them. I'm more confused on why I don't miss them so much or about going home." Angie just stared at Darren in confusion as if silently asking how he could not miss his parents or his home.

"It's hard to put into words," Darren attempted to explain, "but I feel more at home here than back where I came from." Angie seemed to think on his words before she turned back to him.

"I remember my Dad said he felt better here than before as a soldier one time, so I guess it makes sense for some people." She nodded with a certainty that children did as if they had found all the answers they needed. The two fell into a comfortable silence and enjoyed each other's company until a short rumble was heard from Angie's stomach.

"Hungry Angie?" Darren chuckled at the growing blush on Angie's face.

"Mhm."

"Let's get something to eat then." The two walked back to the celebration with the two zerglings trailing behind them.


	11. Chapter 11

_**CRASH**_

A quick slash with his claws and the tree fell.

_**FWIP**_

A quick throwing motion threw a near-silent spike into a tree.

_**CRUNCH**_

The rock broke apart from a simple punch.

_**BOOM**_

A fast roundhouse kick to the top of the rock sent it flying until it hit a tree, making it break apart at the point of collision.

Darren stopped and took a look around the clearing that he had been practicing in for the past few hours. It looked like a small army had been told to let loose in the clearing as there wasn't a single spot that had been spared from the resulting destruction. Trees were either knocked over or split in half, rocks in the surrounding area had either been caved in or crushed, and even parts of the ground had been pounded in.

It seemed that the recent upgrades, courtesy of the Rock Eater Wildlings, had gone well. Satisfied with the test, Darren began to walk back towards his base and thought on his progress for now. It had passed a solid week since the events of Counter Village being threatened by the Wildlings and things have been slow for a time.

First, his improved powers. The fight with the Alpha Rock Eater may have been finished quickly, but only because Jack had his spear lodged into its eye at first and because the Wildling was slow. Darren needed to improve himself and so he went to the Evolution Chamber for the first time. There seemed to be some sort of opening near the "head" of the building to let him in and when he stepped inside the entrance closed right back up as if there wasn't a hole there just a second ago.

Then suddenly he was connected to the building like organ much like his Swarm, but more in-depth with him having an instant understanding of what he saw. Darren could see entire strands of DNA flowing through his mind due to the enhanced connection between himself and the Evolution Chamber which housed different possibilities of evolutions and upgrades for him to choose from. While he could choose to upgrade his Swarm as a whole, he decided to focus on himself first so as not to leave his base unprotected through his evolution and improve the rest later when he was surer of the upgrades.

The first of the things Darren focused on was improved strength and durability from the DNA of the Rock Eaters. This would allow his hits to leave a stronger impact in the event of more close-quarters combat, something that would likely happen during his time as the Swarm leader. Next, for a ranged option, Darren decided to incorporate the hydralisk spines into his forearms. While he wouldn't be able to shoot them out at a moments notice, he could still throw them with enough speed and precision that throwing them one at a time didn't matter. And focusing on precision, Darren found that he could use night vision and infrared sight if he just focused hard enough. Definitely an edge against anyone who though him a normal Magi. With his recent testing, Darren was satisfied and decided he would incorporate the improvements to the Swarm as soon as possible.

On his walk back to his base, Darren passed by Counter as it was in the same direction. Some of the lookouts spotted him and gave a few friendly waves in his direction with him returning them in kind. Though, another reason he came by was to also check on the roaches and hydralisks that were currently nested underground around the village perimeter.

During the party after the Rock Eater Wildlings, Darren had met the village leader. He was a kindly old man named Richard who had lived in Counter for his whole life. The people seemed to greatly respect him for reasons that Darren didn't know of, but it didn't matter at this point as Darren and Richard had agreed. Richard was thankful for Darren arriving quickly enough to save Counter from any further damage, but he also asked Darren for continued protection. In return, Richard offered whatever the village could provide for Darren such as information about current events and trade with other local villages.

The plan that Darren made was to keep a contingent of roaches and hydralisks buried around the perimeter of Counter and to have a constant patrol of zerglings in the forests that surrounded the village. The zerglings would harass any threats that tried to reach the village while the main contingent would fortify themselves at the right positions to prepare for an oncoming force of enemies. Finally, a larger amount of Zerg would come directly from any of Darren's local bases to reinforce the village as well.

The old village leader tried to dissuade Darren from giving so much support to Counter calling the village, "unworthy of such help" but Darren insisted that since he saved the village, he was now invested in its continued survival.

Darren continued to walk back to base and finally made it back to the part of the forest under his direct influence. Any part of the forest touched by the purple creep flourishing through a complex symbiosis between the creep and the natural greenery. The moment he stepped on it, he could feel an instantaneous change as he suddenly felt lighter and more empowered along with an undercurrent of calmness filling his being. Darren had learned that while the creep did subtly support those that Darren had deemed as friends or allies, the creep also seemed to know when enemies or unknowns approached it and would act accordingly.

First, the creep sent out a subtle influence that either made creatures approaching it to turn away and feel uneased by being in proximity. If that failed then the creep would "report" back to the nearby Creep Generators and base to prepare its defenses. With the Creep Generator's defenses at the ready, any initial attackers should be slowed down enough so that Darren's forces could respond appropriately. Spiked tendrils from the ground, corrosive acid from above.

Darren began walking faster and slowly sped up until he was sprinting at top speed through the forest aided by the creep giving him a small but incredibly helpful boost. In no time, he made it back to the base just in time to see a new battalion of Zerg birthed and ready for Darren's orders. One order to join the rest of the defending army for all combat-ready Zerg and an order for new overlords to scout later, and Darren made it to the Evolution Chamber to begin upgrades. One of the many perks that Darren had learned of the Evolution Chamber, alongside the ability to upgrade units, was that all Zerg units could upgrade within seconds, but only if they had access to some creep generated by a Hatchery, Lair, or Hive. The order to send the upgrades went through in an instant and Darren could feel a wave of satisfaction through his link to his Swarm as it evolved further. He walked out of the Evolution Chamber and began a quick inspection to catalog his Swarm when he was pinged by one of the roaming packs of zerglings.

* * *

"Quickly now, knights! I want to make it back to town before nightfall. My bed awaits," a shrill voice sounded.

"Of course, Magi Cael," a tired voice replied, "We wouldn't want you to be inconvenienced."

"As it should be," the shrill voice said.

The lead knight just sighed again. He looked behind himself and observed the small contingent of knights that had been ordered to escort the Magi alongside him all on horseback. Each of their faces betrayed a measure of exasperation from the Magi's words, though only a trained eye would be able to spot the signs of such. This was to be a standard patrol of the land until a rumor that a pack of Wildlings was in the area was heard. Later reports confirmed the rumors and that the pack was heading towards Counter Village. A runner from the village hadn't arrived yet, and as such, he was worried that there was no village left to send a runner.

And thus, the reason that they were here. A group of knights supported by a local Magi to be sent to Counter Village to confirm whether or not an attack took place. If an attack didn't happen, great, if it did, hopefully, there was still enough to at least count the bodies of anyone unfortunate enough not to get away in time. One of the knights trotted up to him.

"Sir, what should we expect?" The speaker was a young knight. Freshly shined armor, wide eyes, questioning a superior officer. New blood.

"I mean, it's my first assignment and I'm not exactly sure what we're doing."

"Were you here for the debriefing, Jones?"

"No sir," Jones said with a slightly ashamed expression, "I was helping my family with a few chores and realized I was late later." The old knight gave Jones a stern look.

"Well, helping your family is a good thing, yes. But you are a knight Jones. Remember to do your duty and be on time." Jones flinched slightly.

"Yes, sir." He took a quick look at the new knight and turned his focus back in front of him.

"Anyway Jones, this is a check up on one of the outer skirting villages. It shouldn't be anything too worrisome at the moment, but if it is something bad prepare yourself for a fight. Got it?" Jones gave the older man a determined look.

"Yes, sir!"

"Good," he said as he turned back, "Wouldn't want anything bad happening on your first mission nephew."

"Thanks, Uncle Abraham."

The group continued onward going further into the forest as the road paved with stones soon lessened into a trail on the ground beaten by constant travel. Many of the knights silently cursing the constant rambling from Magi Cael. The man seemed to love the sound of his voice. About another hour into the journey, with Magi Cael still rambling of how he would single-handedly save Counter Village with a simple conjuration spell, Abraham noticed something strange. Immediately, he held up a clenched fist and the party stopped moving except for Magi Cael who noticed the lack of movement a while later. Just as Abraham was about to give out his orders, Magi Cael spoke in his shrill voice.

"What's the holdup! I said that I don't want to be too long from my bed!" he said like a petulant child.

"Quiet," Abraham replied.

"How dare you sa-"

"We're being watched." At that Cael became silent and started quickly looking at every angle with a distressed look. The knights slowly pulled out their weapons and examined the surrounding area more calmly and slowly trying to spot anything that would give away their observers.

However, no matter how much training a knight had, none of them could exactly see into the ground beneath their feet.


	12. Chapter 12

**Feb 18 Update: I only updated the breaks in the lines so nothing new. Sorry :/**

_What to do, what to do, _were Darren's first thoughts as he carefully observed the new group of people that were about to intrude on Counter Village's borders. Sure, they seemed official as their party had a Magi along with a group of knights in tow, but, they could also be very well funded bandits that were looking for their next big score. For the past few hours Darren had used a few roaches to follow the passing group to better understand if they were a threat. And after careful consideration and observation of the group he had come to an answer.

Darren could steamroll these guys in a second flat.

The group of knights seemed battled hardened already, but there were only a few notable exceptions such as who seemed to be the lead knight. Abraham, Darren believed that was his name if the other man, who was apparently the guy's nephew, who said it was correct. With that, his attention was brought to the nephew, Jones. This knight was young and looked nervous, but he seemed ready to fight if the time called for one to be fought. And finally, the Magi, which he assumed to be from the robes the man wore rather than the shined plate armor that the knights had equipped and his earlier arrogance as well being a typical characteristic of Magi. Although, now, the Magi seemed ready to bolt at the slightest hint of a fight.

Each of the other knights looked like they could handle a Beta Wildling if they worked in pairs, but Darren wondered how they would holdout against a human enemy. As luck would have it, this contingent of people were being stalked by a roving group of bandits for the past few minutes.

* * *

Earlier when Darren had been alerted by some of his zerglings, it turned out to be a ragtag group of men that had been resting after walking aimlessly through the forest. They each either wore a mismatch of clothing and armor or wore the bare minimum to cover themselves up from the elements. Most of the men were armed with rusted swords and blocky looking hammers with a few others were armed with bows and knives. The largest and stockiest of the men, probably the leader, had the most armor on his person along with a well-used war hammer that was slung over his back. He was also one hell of a mean bastard.

"Boys," the man started as he looked at everyone gathered around him, "I know we've had a spot of bad luck lately and I've been hearing a few naysayers talking about how I run things around here lately. So, I've got a solution to make sure that our little peace is kept." The man pointed at one of his men watching him.

"Jeffey, come're." The man in question gave a confused look but still went to the leader.

"Yeah, Boss," the man asked, "What is it?" Boss got next to the man and wrapped an arm around the other's shoulders.

"Jeffey," Boss started as the bandits watch interested, "I remember when I found you in that sorry excuse of a village a few months and you begged me to let you come with us. Remember that Jeffey?" Jeffey went to answer but was interrupted by Boss. "Of course, you remember that day! It was one of my more profitable raids, your village was. Anyway Jeffey, I heard that you were planning something for a while now." At those words, Jeffey went pale and started struggling to get out of Boss's grip as it suddenly grew tighter. "I heard from a little bird that you were planning to get rid of me soon. I said to myself, 'Impossible! Not good old Jeffey. He's been a good friend for quite a while now.' Imagine my disappointment when I found out that the little bird was right."

In a flash of movement, Boss held Jeffey with one arm around his throat and the other pressing down on the back of Jeffey's head. Boss slowly squeezed his arms and, in a panic, Jeffey tried to pry the arm from his throat, but trying to do so was like pulling on a metal beam. Boss brought his mouth to Jeffey's ear.

"You really shouldn't have done that Jeffey," Boss whispered menacingly. He raised his head and turned to address the rest of the men.

"I don't like traitors in my band and if I hear of anything else like this happening ever again...," Boss said as he slowly put pressure into squeezing Jeffey's neck. Jeffey continued to struggle until everyone heard the gut-wrenching sound.

_**CRUNCH**_

Once Boss was sure that Jeffey had died, he dropped the body like a sack of potatoes and turned towards the watching crowd.

"If I ever hear or even suspect that any of you are planning something behind my back, then your gonna wish you went out like dear old Jeffey," Boss said as he slowly observed his crew. As he finished his little speech, a scout ran towards Boss. Without even glancing at the still warm body, the scout quickly whispered in Boss's ear and stepped back after he had finished. Boss had a contemplative look on his face, but he seemed to come to a conclusion rather quickly.

"Boys," he addressed the crowd with a twisted grin, "it seems we got a little group headed our way. Get everyone ready, it's time for a little payday!"

* * *

After shadowing the bandits with roaches for some time, Darren had found the group that the bandits were about to claim as their next victims. As the bandits began to arrange themselves for an ambush, Abraham stopped everyone with a closed fist raised next to him.

"We're being watched."

With those words, all movement from the bandits stopped. The tension in the air was thick enough to cut through as the knights slowly began to arm themselves, everyone waiting for some unknown signal. Bow strings pulled back slowly as the bandits took aim and waited for someone to fire off the first shot.

_**WHISS**_

An arrow was sent flying straight toward Jones who had turned to look behind himself. He heard the sound and turned to see the arrow about to impale him. He couldn't raise his shield in time to stop the arrow, nor could he move quickly enough to dodge it.

_**CLANK**_

Thankfully, he didn't need to as the arrow was stopped inches from his body courtesy of Abraham who had seen the arrow speeding towards his nephew. Abraham had swiftly brought up his shield in time to stop the arrow and gave a quick glance to where the arrow had come from. Time paused for a moment until a battle cry came from the surrounding trees as bandits began to pour through. There was only one appropriate way to respond to the threat.

"Ambush!" Abraham snarled as he charged to meet the tide. "Form up on me and charge!"

With Abraham at the lead, the group of knights charged head first into the band of bandits, knocking them over and trampling more than a few unfortunates. The knights' training shone through as, in a matter of moments into the charge, half of the bandits had been killed. Swords slashed through the air and severed limbs while the horses crushed anyone in their path.

However, some bandits had gotten a few lucky hits some knights which took them off of their horses. Most of the dismounted knights got up and began to fight off the bandits that had surrounded while a couple were ganged up on and killed. Abraham, seeing the trouble that his knights were in, decided a change of plan was needed.

"Group up on those off their horses! Cover each other and prepare t-"

_**WHAM**_

Abraham flew as a war hammer smashed him off his horse and onto the ground leaving him nearly comatose.

"Uncle!"

In an act of pure instinct, Abraham willed himself to roll to the side as a large war hammer landed where his head was just a second ago. He got up and made a quick assessment of himself noting a medium sized dent in his armor where he was struck and the loss of his helmet. He was still equipped with a standard sword and shield as most knights carried.

Abraham looked over to see one of the largest men he had ever witnessed in his life lift the war hammer that had nearly brained him onto his shoulder as easily as a child holding a stick and give him a menacing grin. The large bandit began gathering everyone's attention.

"Everyone shut your traps," the bandit yelled out. The fighting slowed until everyone focused on the man.

"I have to say," the bandit said slowly circling Abraham with him copying his movements at a distance, "I'm not impressed in the slightest. When I heard that a few knights and a Magi were coming our way, I was expecting a challenge! What I got was so much more disappointing. Some old man, a few people playing hero, and I don't even see the 'feared' Magi anywhere."

At those words, Abraham's eyes quickly moved around the area and settled back on the bandit once he had confirmed the bandit's words. Magi Cael was nowhere to be found. Abraham had hoped that the Magi would have helped them in anyway but seeing the Magi's demeanor before the fight even began made him question the man's usefulness. At best, the man had run back to the town to get help, and at worst, they had been left to die.

"Now," the bandit started, "in the usual manner of things, I would usually just sick my boys on you, steal from you, then kill you if I felt like it. And at the moment right now," the bandit leader looked over the bodies of some of his subordinates, "I feel like killing you just for the hell of it. But I like to think of myself as a reasonable man when I'm not killing everyone that pisses me off. So, I'll give you a choice right now knighty." The bandit made a motion with his hand and the surrounding bandits began to form a circle around the remaining knights.

"You fight me, one in one, and I'll let you and your men go if you win," the bandit said.

"And if I lose?" replied Abraham. The bandit gave him a twisted grin.

"I'm sure we both know what'll happen if you lose, knighty."

"Then I'll just have to finish this quickly." One moment Abraham stopped moving and in the next moment he had moved right in front of the bandit with his sword in an overhead swing. The bandit's eyes widened slightly in surprise, but he recovered quickly and brought up his war hammer to block the attack just before the sword embedded itself in his head. He gave Abraham a look.

"I thought that knights were supposed to be honorable in every way?" Abraham just gave the look back to the bandit.

"For you," Abraham said as he glared into the bandit's eyes, "I'll make an exception." The bandit started at him as they continued to push against each other until the bandit backed off and jumped back to gain a bit of distance. He gave Abraham a twisted grin.

"You," he pointed at Abraham with his war hammer, "I like you, knighty." The bandit looked over his weapon and prepared himself for a fight. "And just so you know, the name's Boss."

Boss rushed Abraham with a swing of his war hammer towards Abraham's left side. Abraham used his shield to redirect the blow, but in the process the war hammer shredded the shield. Abraham threw the scraped shield at Boss's face and charged forwards to capitalize on the moment Boss used his hammer to block the shield. He swung his sword from his right side, but Boss had dodged out of the way and swung again which nearly clipped the side of Abraham's head.

The knight took a few steps back to gain some distance and examined Boss to see if there was anything he could exploit. After a short second, he charged the bandit again and prepared to swing.

"Not gonna work knighty," Boss crowed. As Boss prepared to block the swing, Abraham stopped suddenly and instead of swinging his sword, he thrust it instead. The sword clipped the handle of the war hammer and made a cut on Boss's ribs. But that didn't deter Boss as he brought the war hammer handle around Abraham and began crushing him between himself and his war hammer. Abraham's arms were pinned uselessly against his sides as his armor was slowly being squeezed from the pressure.

"This is it, knighty," Boss gloated as he continued crushing the man, "You're gonna die and I'm gon- Argh!" Abraham shut the man up with a quick headbutt to the bandit's nose and stepped back as the bandit held his bleeding nose. Abraham swung his sword again aiming to finish the fight and Boss attempted to dodge out of the way. However, Boss misjudged the sword's arc.

_**SHLICK**_

Time stopped as everyone stared at the stump where Boss's left arm from the elbow up used to be. He reached out to his new stump in shock.

"M-m-my arm. My gods damned arm! Aaaarrrrgggghhhh!" Boss got down to his knees and started to curl up on himself as the pain started to set in. Abraham simply looked at him with a neutral stare.

"You're beaten. My men and I will be leaving now. Hopefully, we never see each other ever again or I'll finish what you started." Abraham turned away and began walking back until he heard a slight rusting. He turned back to see Boss nearly on him with a knife.

"I'll kill you, you ruddy bast-"

_**CLONK**_

The bandit was knocked aside and quickly passed out due to exhaustion and blood loss. Jones quickly looked over the part of his shield that knocked out Boss then turned to address his captain/uncle.

"Sir!" Jones snapped a quick salute. "What should we do with the prisoners?" Abraham looked over at what knights remained surrounding a group of defeated bandits.

"Finish them off," Abraham commanded, "We don't have the capability to deal with prisoners right now and I don't think letting bandits go to wreak havoc somewhere else would be the right course of action."

"Yes sir," Jones said as he went back to the knights to relay the orders. Abraham turned back to Boss to finish him off, but he stopped in place. There was only a puddle of blood where the bandit was a second ago.

Boss was gone.


	13. Chapter 13

**Feb 18 Update: I only updated the breaks in the lines so nothing new. Sorry :/**

After the knights had finished up with the remaining bandits and scavenged what few belongings the bandits carried, they continued their trek through the forest towards Counter Village as it was closer than the town. Other than treating what injuries the knights had sustained during the fighting, the rest of the journey was unremarkable and quiet.

Once Darren was sure that nothing would happen, he returned to his own body and started walking towards Counter.

* * *

They had finally made it to their destination just as the sun was beginning to set on the horizon. Abraham let out a soft sigh of relief as he saw the gates of Counter opening at their arrival knowing that their mission was a success and, more importantly, that his men would survive the night. A few villagers ran up towards them.

"Sir knights," one of the villagers said, "it's an honor to see you here at our humble village. What brings you here at the end of the day?"

"We received a warning about a pack of Wildlings coming towards your village," Abraham relied. "But it seems that our help wasn't needed."

"Oh yes Milord, we were in danger. But we were saved by the humble Magi Darren!" another villager said in excitement. Understandably, Abraham and the few knights that heard the villagers were a bit confused and some looked at each other to confirm that they all heard the same thing, the same thought running through their heads.

_A humble magi?_

Abraham gave a mental shake of his head and decided to focus on what he needed to do.

"My men require medical assistance and I was hoping to speak with the leader of this village for a report on what happened during the Wildling attack. Can you do this for us?" Abraham asked.

"Of course, sir knight," the villager replied, "we will do whatever we can for your men. I'll find someone to escort you to Richard, our leader."

"I can do it," a voice familiar to Abraham said. He turned to the voice and grinned.

"Captain, it's good to see you're still alive and kicking," Abraham said as he saluted Jack.

"First off," Jack started as he eyed Abraham, "stop saluting me Abraham, I'm not your commanding officer anymore. I'm just a simple farmer. Second," Jack pulled the man into a heartfelt hug, "it's good to see you, friend. What brings you and your boys here?"

"I'll tell you when we get to your leader." The two started walking towards the center of Counter where Richard was located. "Anyway Jack, how's your family?"

"Well…"

The two caught up and traded stories as they walked over to Counter. They talked about the times when they were younger knights under the crown and how things have changed over the years. Jack was stationed as the Captain of the Guard since Abraham was a recruit. Abraham had shown an aptitude in his career as a knight and quickly rose the ranks to be the second in command during Jack's career as Captain. The two men had bonded quickly and soon it seemed that nothing would stop the pair in being the best knights in the kingdom. Jack, however, wished to settle down and retire after meeting Miranda and having Chloe along with little Angie on the way.

"Dad!"

The two men stopped and turned to the voice as Jack was impacted by a tiny human shaped missile.

"Hi dad!" Angie said excitedly. She noticed the other man with her father and hid behind his legs in a moment of shyness. "Who's he?" Angie asked in a small voice. Jack smiled softly as he introduced the two.

"Abraham, I'd like to introduce you to my youngest, Angie. Angie, this is an old friend of mine called Abraham." Angie peeked from behind Jack as Abraham gave a reassuring smile.

"Hi…" Angie whispered, barely audible. Abraham continued to smile and got down on one knee.

"Hello Angie, it's good to finally meet you," Abraham said. He looked over at Jack and grinned for a moment before focusing back on Angie. "Do you want to hear a little story about your father?" Abraham said in a conspiratorial whisper. Angie got curious. Jack had an unsure look.

"Abraham…" warned Jack.

"There was this one time during a trek in the woods that your father and I, along with a few others, were hunting for some wild boar that had a few local villages worried."

"Don't you dare…" Jack's look became more panicked as Angie got more curious.

"We eventually found them living in a nearby cave. The plan was to send a man in to chase out the boars while the rest waited in an ambush to finish off the animals quickly. Your father, being the most experienced man there, had volunteered."

"I swear to the gods, if you continue this story Abraham I am going to-"

"We waited for a while and believed everything was going well," Abraham continued, unaffected by the threat. "That is, until your father bravely ran out of the cave as fast as he could while screaming at the top of his lungs." Jack put his head in his hands in embarrassment while Angie started giggling at the image of her dad that Abraham painted.

"What happened next?" Angie asked as she controlled her giggling.

"Why," Abraham started with a smirk, "we dealt with a small wave of wild boars as it seemed that your father's tactical retreat had woken them from their slumber. Of course, for anyone who was there that day, we never let our commander live that day down. Ever." Angie broke down in a fit of uncontrollable laughter as Jack contemplated if it was still a good idea to let Abraham meet his second daughter, and soon the rest of his family.

Jack wouldn't have to suffer in embarrassment for too long as Angie suddenly stopped giggling and gasped as she was tackled by Ace and Bandit. The two zerglings started to play with Angie while they climbed on top of her. The two zerglings had become a common sight around Counter and seeing something like this happen wasn't too shocking after the first few times. For a certain knight however…

"What manner of creature is this?" Abraham asked softly as he watched the zerglings interact with Angie. He was close to drawing his sword when he saw them at first and he nearly attacked when he saw Angie get tackled. Jack saw him however and placed a hand on his arm to stop him from doing anything drastic. The two zerglings seemed to notice Abraham and immediately stopped playing with Angie to instead focus on the new human while staying curled up around Angie protectively.

"They're called zerglings," a young voice said behind the two. The men turned to see a tall male figure in intimidating armor.

* * *

Darren had just made it to Counter a few minutes ago where he was greeted by Ace and Bandit. After walking for a short time, the two zerglings sprinted ahead of him and he caught up just in time to see Angie get tackled. He smiled and was about to make his presence known until he saw the man standing next to Jack. He recognized him as the knight that was leading the party from earlier and decided to introduce himself.

"What manner of creature is this?" Darren heard Abraham whisper.

"They're called zerglings," Darren said as he walked up behind the men. They turned around and looked at him. "They're basically enthusiastic, excitable, armored dogs that are really fast."

Darren took a look at Abraham now that he was closer and saw that he was about the same age as Jack. He had short blond hair with a short beard and a few scars dotting the side of his face. The knight also carried himself with a presence that seemed to naturally draw people to him. Darren "took off" the helmet to hold it under his arm and held out his hand in greeting.

"My name's Darren Miller, the local Magi. It's a pleasure to meet you, sir knight." Abraham looked at Darren's outstretched hand for a brief moment but decided to shake Darren's hand. A Magi who, at least from what he knew, helped to save a village without expecting any reward couldn't be all bad.

"It's good to meet you Magi Darren. The name's Abraham. I heard what you did to save the village. Thank you for being here when we were not."

"It wasn't any skin off my nose. Besides, what kind of person would I be if I didn't help when I could? Oh, and just call me Darren. No need for some silly title." Abraham looked at Darren questionably as if to confirm that the Magi in front of him wasn't trying to trick him.

"If you say so, Darren," Abraham tested. Darren didn't do anything but smile.

"Since you're here Darren," Jack started once introductions were finished, "why don't we go meet with the village leader? I'm sure that everything can be explained there." Thankfully, it didn't take too long for the group to make it to the village center and finish what business they had. During the time though, Darren had learned a few interesting things about events outside of Counter.

First, the town that was closest to Counter, the same one that Abraham had come from, was a large trading center from where a large majority of funds that supplied Aleria flowed through. It was called Chrimata, town of wealth.

Second, it seemed that the Magi from earlier, Magi Cael, was a noble from a family of some renown. In fact, they held a near majority of power and influence when it came to advise the king to matters of the nobility. The reason that Magi Cael was sent with the knights was as a preliminary test to see if he was ready for additional training as both a Magi and a noble.

The chances were that Cael would fail when Abraham got back.

Third, the rulers King Indulf and Queen Catherine were being put under pressure by the general populous and the nobility to deal with the increase of Wildling populations. The best idea that was going around was to send Magi around the kingdom to try and find the sources of the Wildlings and to stop further attacks on the surrounding villages. However, not a single clue had been found in recent months and attacks by the Wildlings have increased in frequency and ferocity. The kingdom could only react to Wildling incursions as there was no real way to predict where or when an attack could happen. There was, however, a more immediate threat that the kingdom was trying to address.

The last thing that Darren learned were rumors of an underground black market. Apparently, the rise of Wildling populations have led to guards being taken off the streets and placed on the walls or put in patrols around any settlements. As a result, even though outside threats may have lessened, security inside the walls have also lessened which have brought an increase of crime. Some groups had started to pop up in different areas around the kingdom, but the capital of Aleria was apparently a hotspot of activity. And soon enough, a black market for more unsavory goods was being told about.

After Abraham was finish telling the recent news he turned to Darren.

"Darren," Abraham said, "you are a Summoning Magi, correct?" Darren nodded in confirmation. "How come I've never heard of your creatures before? A Summoning Magi is a rare thing, and many aren't seen outside of their school."

Now this was one of the first problems Darren had thought of. How to validate that he had magic. Fortunately, this world seemed to have a patented excuse for such things.

"Well first I need to explain a few things. First, my family was made up of farmers and magic was more of a fairytale for us since we never saw much of it. One day around harvest season when I was part of a convoy bringing the food back home, we were attacked by bandits. I was the only one who made it. I've been living in the woods for the most part when I found out I could use magic about a month or two ago. Scared the hell out of me when I got my first summoned creature. Since then I've just been practicing."

The explanation was flimsy, but it wasn't uncommon to hear about bandit attacks during harvest season when there was the chance to gain the most amount of food just before winter. And to hear about a Magi discovering the use of their powers were not uncommon either. The way that the three schools of magic found potential Magi was by either going through the nobility or by listening to reports of unregulated magic usage around the land. It was a lazy method, but then again, not many commoners became Magi and those that did weren't respected by their colleagues.

Abraham seemed to buy the explanation though. Probably trusting Darren enough to keep his own secrets if he wasn't telling him everything. Besides, how as a guy supposed to explain that he came from a completely different world and that his magic was actually a form of biologically advanced aliens with him being one of them?

"I'll take your word for it Darren," Abraham said. "But you need to be registered into a school of magic or else chances are that, once you're more well known, you might be called a rogue Magi. If that happens, you'll find that you won't be trusted at best or just hunted down by bounty hunters at worst." Darren grimaced at the news. He knew that at some point, something was going to force him out of his comfort zone but knowing that still didn't make the impact of hearing it any less hard.

"Thank you, Abraham," Darren sighed, "I had no idea about that. I'll try to get to the Summoning school as fast as possible." Abraham nodded in acknowledgement and addressed the people listening in the village center.

"My men and I will be returning to the capital in a few days. We will provide any help wherever we can. If that's everything-"

"Wait." Abraham turned back to Darren.

"Can you help me get to the school of Summoning magic?"

**A/N: I actually updated this thing. Now I just need to figure out how to connect more of my ideas to make this thing better.**

…

**Yay.**


	14. Chapter 14

If Darren had to describe Chrimata, the best word for it would be busy. And not "lunch rush" busy but more like "New York City on New Year's Eve" level of busy. The word "crowded" wouldn't do the town justice.

The entrance to the town was impressive on its own with little stalls dotting the area selling food, trinkets, and weapons. The streets were packed with people as they went from place to place constantly looking for whatever they needed. Inns, shops, and blacksmiths catered to a potential customer's needs on every street. A large stone wall guarded the town's borders along with a small river making a natural moat around the town bringing in freshwater. There were few trees around the area and instead had houses surrounding the town. It was completely different from the calm streets of Counter that he was used to or the forest where his Swarm was located. Overall, it was nice to see a different place.

There were, however, a few complications…

_Cut him off on the next street, Cooper! _The zergling acknowledged his master's mental command and quickly turned into an alleyway to get to the next street over. Declan, the zergling running beside Darren, continued to chase after the target. Soon the one they were running after turned into an alleyway to escape but soon stopped.

Cooper had made it to the other end of the alley first and waited patiently for his target. He growled and advanced. The cloaked person turned to run back out only to see that Declan was moving into the alley with Darren close behind him.

The thief panicked and pulled out a knife in a shaky grip.

"S-stay back!" The thief yelled in a feminine voice. The three stopped a few meters from her as she shifted with her back against a wall. She continued to hold out the knife, it was dull and rusted now that Darren could see it better, and it was obvious to see how inexperienced she was with how she held the knife.

Darren didn't want to spook the girl (she sounded about his age) any further and showed his hands at his sides, palms out, to be as non-threatening as possible. Though it probably didn't work as the girl flinched from Darren's movements.

_And everything was going so well earlier,_ Darren thought tiredly.

* * *

Darren flopped backward onto the bed as his two newly hatched zerglings, Cooper and Declan, began to explore the room he had been given for the duration of their stay. As he laid there Darren began to go over what had happened in the past few days as he traveled to Chrimata.

After asking Abraham to escort him to the school of Summoning magic, Abraham had agreed to take Darren along with them so long as Darren didn't do anything to endanger his men. They would leave for Chrimata in a day or two to let Abraham's men recover from the bandit ambush which gave Darren a good amount of time to make sure his Swarm was well protected in his absence. His Swarm would be able to protect itself in any situation that may arise in his absence, but Darren would rather be safe than sorry.

First, Darren ordered more Creep Generators to be built along the supply line he had going between the Magi crystal mine and his home base as well as more Creep Generators along the outskirts of the base. Secondly, unit production was to be sped up until Darren had a medium-sized army at his command. Third, the Nydus Network was tested to see how far it could travel and about how fast it was. Thankfully, it didn't seem like there was a limit to how far a Nydus Worm could travel as long as there was a visual of where it would appear and when it came to speed the Worms were very fast. The last thing he wanted to cover though was the Evolution Chamber.

He remembered that the Evolution Chamber would allow him to understand what he was seeing, and he wanted to evolve his Swarm further in preparation. However, when Darren went to see what more he could do, pieces of DNA seemed to be missing or were otherwise locked to him. He guessed that it was since his Swarm was relatively new so he wouldn't have complete access to all the upgrades. Also, if he was going to make his Swarm better, he was going to need more "raw materials" to work with. The best he could do now was to upgrade the creep and Creep Generators for increased efficiency and for the zerglings to increase their speed through what he could identify as their Metabolic Boost. He decided to go through with what he could do. He'd have to warn Angie's family about a few new additions to Ace and Bandit.

With all those things done, Darren started to get ready for the trip. He spawned a new pair of personal zergling guards, Cooper and Declan, and some roaches as backup in case something unplanned happened along the way. If he needed additional reinforcements Darren could easily summon a Nydus Worm.

Thankfully nothing had happened and the days were peaceful along with the occasional question or two from the knights about Darren's creatures. The knights were wary around Darren at first but soon warmed up to him as the days had passed. Most had questions about Darren ranging from how long he had been living by himself and how his magic worked. Anyone who had questioned Darren about what creatures he could summon had assumed that the zerglings were the only ones he could summon. Though Jones did ask more specifically about Cooper and Declan…

"Magi Darren," Jones started shyly, "could I ask you a few questions?" Darren looked over at Jones on the back of his horse.

"Of course, Jones," Darren said, "I'll answer what I can. Also, you can just call me Darren. You don't have to use that Magi title every time we talk." Slightly embarrassed but not dissuaded from speaking, Jones continued.

"Those creatures of yours, what were they called again?"

"Zerglings. These two are Cooper and Declan." The zerglings acknowledged Jones and the knights with a trill. The knights looked over at them as Jones gives an uneasy smile and a small wave of his hand.

"Right. I don't mean to be a bother but… well…" Jones seemed to be debating whether to continue or not, "I remembered that the zerglings you had before at Counter Village didn't have those wings. Now all of them seem to have wings. Did something happen? I-If you don't want to tell me that's fine. Probably some Magi thing I don't understand," Jones added hastily. Darren smiled over at Jones

"It's no problem, Jones. I would be happy to explain." At those words Jones, Abraham, and the other knights leaned in slightly, eager to hear an explanation of Darren's magic. "First, I need you guys to understand that my summoned creatures and I share a bond with each other."

"Do you mean like the bond between a hound master and his dogs?" The group turned to the knights that spoke up. He shrunk a little at the sudden attention but continued. "I've heard that a hound master has something close to a sixth sense when it comes to his dogs. Is your bond like that?"

"It's close," Darren replied, "but my I share with Cooper and Declan is a little more… intimate." The gathered knights seemed confused by the answer but accepted it as one of those Magi things.

"Well that explains a few things," Jones said, "but what about the wings on their backs?"

"That was because I conducted a bit of research on my creatures and found that by adding wings on the backs of the zerglings, it made them more aerodynamic without sacrificing the durability of their carapaces." After his explanation, Darren only received silence as the group of knights attempted to figure out some of the words that the man had said.

"It means that they're faster and that their armor is still as strong as before." The group turned to the head where Abraham was sitting. He took a quick look at Darren before focusing on the road again. "I've spent enough time with Magi to get a general understanding of how they work."

After that, the group was mostly quiet with the occasional conversation here and there.

Once the group had made it to Chrimata they went to a two-story inn where previous reservations had been made. The knights had their own rooms and Darren could have Magi Cael's old room which was on the second floor. When Abraham questioned the innkeeper earlier about any information about Magi Cael, the innkeeper said that he only saw him for a few moments after leaving his room and that he seemed to be in a hurry. Abraham guessed that Cael may have run all the way back to the capital as fast as he could.

Now Darren was just resting for a moment, watching his zerglings sticking their snouts into every nook and cranny they could find before settling down near the large bed Darren was laying on. He closed his eyes and got ready to unwind for a while.

_**KNOCK KNOCK**_

Darren and his zerglings looked over at the door in annoyance. He spoke in an even tone.

"Yes?"

"We're having a quick meeting downstairs," the voice of Abraham replied, "If you want you can be there." Before Darren could answer he heard the sound of retreating footsteps. Darren laid on the bed for a while with his eyelids shut then, with an exasperated sigh, he raised himself to his feet and plodded out the door with Cooper and Declan in tow.

When Darren made it to the stairs, he spotted Abraham, Jones, and the rest sitting around a large table with food, soups, and bread and made his way there. Jones spotted him first, waving him over and moving over to make room for Darren as his zerglings settled near him.

"Eat up, Darren," Abraham said. "We'll start once you're finished." Darren nodded over at Abraham and made a plate for Cooper and Declan before digging in himself. A few minutes later, Darren finished up and looked at Abraham expectantly.

"Alright then men," Abraham stated, "we've made it to Chrimata earlier than I expected since there weren't any problems happening over at Counter Village. Originally, the plan was to spend about a week in Counter and make sure that there was no lasting damage. However, it seems that due to the actions of a certain Magi," Abraham nodded over at Darren while a few knights smiled over at him, "our help was not needed. For that I am thankful. Now, all we need to do is return to the capital and report back to King Indulf and Queen Catherine. But I believe that a few days rest would do us good now, especially for those still recovering. Besides," Abraham said with a smirk, "these rooms were so _generously _provided by Magi Cael. Does anyone have anything to add?" Abraham gazed around the table and no one answered. "Then that concludes this meeting. Enjoy your rest men, I'm off to bed." Abraham left the table with a smile and went upstairs to his room.

As the remaining gathered men started chatting excitedly about what they would do with their time off Darren began to ponder on what he should do himself. As he got up and made his way to the door, Jones noticed and called out to him.

"Hey, Darren! Where you going?" Darren looked back and saw that a few of the knights were also paying attention.

"I'm off to see what this place can offer. It's my first time being in a place like this so I might as well take some time to enjoy the sights. See you guys."

* * *

_This is actually kind of fun._

Darren was currently walking around and looking through different shops. It was interesting to hear different merchants hawking their wares while also insulting other businesses at the same time. Mostly it would devolve into a screaming match between the two merchants if it got bad enough and any spectators would start betting on who would win. Everyone would break up once the guard showed up though. Darren also took the time to see some of the sights as well.

While walking around, he found a large fountain in the middle of town decorated with marble knights and dragons posed in the middle of a fight. Darren took a seat at the edge of the fountain and watched the people going off on their own business. He did notice that he garnered a few stares, probably because of his armor, and that some people seemed interested in Cooper and Declan.

At one point when he was eating a skewer of what a merchant said was "genuine Wilding meat", it probably a rabbit, he saw some children inching closer to the zergling pair resting nearby. They froze when they realized that Darren was watching them and seemed to still further when Cooper and Declan started paying attention. Darren nodded over at the children. Taking it as permission, one of the children steeled himself and walked up to Cooper. The zergling looked at the boy curiously and let off a soft trill before succumbing to a purr of contentment at being petted. Not wanting to be left out, Declan brushed up against the boy and let out a whine making him laugh as he began to pet Declan as well. This encouraged the other children to run up to the zerglings and start playing with them. Darren smiled at the kids playing and his zerglings as they basked in the affection they were being showered in. As he watched them though, his smile began to morph into a frown.

He didn't see it earlier, but he began to realize that the kids playing with Cooper and Declan were filthy. The clothing they wore was more akin to rags sewn together and their skin was unwashed and caked with dirt. One of the children he noticed had a slight limp as she played with Cooper with him steadying her.

Darren looked around the center and at the other people who were walking around. Their clothing was nice, no beggars dotted the streets, and there was a minimal amount of trash in the area. From everything that Darren had seen while he explored Chrimata, there wasn't a single sign of poverty at all. So why were there children who were clearly not as well off as the other citizens?

_**SMACK**_

"Ahh!"

"Dirty brat!"

Darren's head snapped towards the sound and his gaze focused on a group of three men dressed in similar leather armor with swords at their side. They were rather unremarkable in appearance aside from the fact that they had a matching uniform and badge.

_Probably guards of some sort_, Darren thought as he gave them a once-over. When his gaze went to the children, he saw one on the ground holding his cheek with budding tears in his eyes as the other kids gathered around him. Darren's gaze zeroed in on the kid's cheek and he saw a slightly bleeding wound on angry red skin. He heard the guard yelling at the kids.

"I thought I told you gods damned orphans to stay away from the center! And now, not only are you brats polluting the air with your stink, now I deal with you again!" One of the guards spoke up.

"Hey, Noah." The leader of the three turned his head. "You think we need to teach them another 'lesson'?" Noah looked back at the kids that hadn't moved an inch other than huddling as close as possible. He grinned.

"Maybe if the little shits lick my boots clean then we won't have to teach them again." Noah leaned in to the group of kids. "Whaddya say, eh?"

"Screw you!"

The boy that was hit earlier stood up and glared up defiantly at Noah. The boy walked up to the front of the group.

"You're just a bully! A big, fat bully!" Noah scowled at the boy. He approached the kids and cracked his knuckles while the two other guards took the initiative to approach as well.

"It looks like we have a problem then. We'll have to teach you again not to commit disorderly conduct in the presence of the law!" Noah threw a punch at the boy who closed his eyes shut along with the other kids in anticipation.

_**SMACK**_

The boy flinched but didn't feel the pain of a fist hitting him. He slowly peeked open his eyes then they shot wide open. The man in black armor from earlier was standing in front of him with the guard's fist in his hand.

There were many things that Darren could tolerate and few things that truly peeved him, but seeing children abused really pissed him off. At first, he was going to let these guys go and make sure the kids were alright, especially the one that got hit. Then he was going to stalk these guards as much as possible to find out who they were and, more importantly, how he could take them down quietly. It would be best to avoid making any unnecessary noise if possible.

However, the guards decided to continue pushing their luck and now they would pay the consequences.

"What do you think you're doing," Noah was momentarily surprised but quickly glared at Darren. "You're interfering in Chrimata business." Darren had his head covered by his helmet, but the force of his glare could be felt through it. Darren let go of Noah's fist and the guard took a step back with his cronies backing him up.

"I was just enjoying myself a bit earlier but then you guys came over and started being rude to these kids. I was just thinking, 'Well, that isn't nice,' so, naturally, I came over to ask what's the problem." The children started to huddle up behind Darren and Noah took notice.

"The problem, _sir_," Noah said snidely, "is that there are some brats that always cause some form of trouble and they're right behind you." Noah pointed over at the kids hiding behind Darren. "So, if you'll let us do our job, we'll take care of things here, forget that this 'altercation' ever took place, and you can go off scot-free. We'll even give you a little something for the trouble."

Noah took a pouch from his belt and threw it over at Darren. After catching it, Darren heard the telltale sound of coins clinking next to each other. He made a show of weighing it and threw it back and forth between his hands. Noah grinned believing that he convinced Darren, that was until Darren threw the money back at his feet.

"So, you won't leave," Noah said as he scowled over at Darren.

"No, I don't think I will."

With a grunt, Noah threw a punch at Darren's face hoping to surprise him while his cronies backed him up. What he didn't expect was Darren catching his fist. Before he rationalized it as a fluke because he was aiming for the kid and wasn't putting as much force into the punch, but now it felt like he was hitting a brick wall. Noah used his other hand, but Darren caught it as well. Then he started to squeeze.

As Darren started putting on more pressure on Noah's fists, he slowly brought the guard to his knees. Noah started to panic and quickly looked around for his goons only to see that they had been tackled to the ground by Darren's zerglings, their claws almost breaking through their leather armor. He turned back to Darren only to receive a headbutt, knocking him on his ass. Noah tried to get back up only for a knee to hit him in the face and knock him back down with a foot on his chest to hold him to the ground. Noah groaned in pain and held his nose as it started to bleed. Darren leaned in to whisper while adding more pressure to Noah's chest to make it just short of painful.

"Let me make this clear to you. I don't know who you are, and I don't care. I also don't like it when I see people who think they can do anything without any repercussions. So, because I'm feeling generous right now, I'll let you off with just a broken nose."

Darren took his foot off the guard and turned around to help the kids when he heard a sword being unsheathed. He turned back to see the guard with his sword mid-swing. Intellectually, Darren knew that his black carapace armor would stop the sword dead in its tracks, but he just gave Noah the chance to leave with what little pride he had intact. Instead of doing the smart thing and leaving, he went to try and take Darren down by killing him. So now he would retaliate.

_If I'm being honest though, I just really want to hurt him_, Darren thought.

Darren ducked under Noah's sloppy swing and quickly moved into Noah's guard. Without room to maneuver, Noah had no time to stop Darren's uppercut. Disorientated and in pain, Noah dropped his sword and went to cup his chin when he felt something kick out his leg and leave him unbalanced. Darren used this chance to pull one of Noah's arms over his shoulder and, with a quick application of his enhanced strength, pulled the rest of Noah over himself and slammed him in the ground. The last thing Noah saw was an armored fist headed toward his face.

* * *

After knocking out Noah, Darren made it clear in no uncertain terms to the other two guards that if he saw them blatantly abuse their power again that he would give them a beating worse than Noah's. As they ran off with Noah on their shoulders and their tails between their legs Darren turned to see how the children reacted to his interference.

Turned out, they were a bit distrustful of his actions.

It wasn't every day that a random stranger stood up for some orphans. They had begged for people to help them before, but they were turned away at best or beaten for some perceived slight. So, the fact that some person they just met actually helped them bewildered them. It took some time, but eventually, Darren won over the kids' trust with one of the greatest gifts ever.

Food.

The kids had hung out with Darren and his zerglings for a while and had left about an hour or so ago saying that they needed to go back to the orphanage. They also invited him to visit any time he could because he was in their words, "an alright guy."

Now he was just wandering around the town with no destination in mind. It was about midday and traffic was picking up as the streets started to fill with more and more people shopping to their heart's content. Cooper and Declan had started to move behind him in a single file line rather than walking by his side due to the number of people.

Darren tried to be as polite as possible as he pushed through the crowds of people and made his way to an alleyway. He stopped for a moment to catch his breath and looked out from the mouth of the alley. It was pretty much controlled chaos with people going up and down the street while occasionally stopping by a nearby stall or store that caught their eye.

He prepared himself to brave the onslaught of people when a cloaked figure bumped into him. The person continued to move further into the alley without stopping or acknowledging Darren's presence. A little disgruntled, Darren decided to ignore the encounter and continue on his way when he noticed a lack of weight on his hip where he had been keeping about half his funds. He felt around and come up with nothing. He quickly looked back at the stranger that had bumped into him and saw the figure pocket his pouch.

"Hey!" Darren shouted down at the person. The figure looked back at him and sprinted towards that other mouth of the alleyway.

Darren gave chase and his zerglings followed quickly. The figure made it to the mouth and turned right onto a crowded street. Once Darren made it to the mouth, he tried to spot the figure but had no such luck and was about to give up when Declan signaled Darren. The zergling was looking at a nearby stall and Darren could see the same figure trying to blend in with the rest of the patrons. He began making his way there when the thief realized that Darren had found when he was hiding and bolted off farther into the crowd. Darren gave chase and saw that the thief was running towards another alleyway.

_Cut him off on the next street, Cooper!_

**A/N: Originally this part was going to be around my usual 2000 words but then it started growing way more than I thought it would. In the end, the word count doubled, which is absolutely awesome. :D**

**Hope you enjoyed it.**

**PS: Anyone ever read a steampunk book called "Leviathan"? If not, I recommend you do. It's got some pretty pictures too.**

**PPS: I finally figured out how to get the horizontal lines instead of always saying "-Break-". **


	15. Chapter 15

With his hands still up, Darren slowly approached the thief but stopped when she quickly turned to him with the knife still in her shaky grip.

"I-I told you to stay back!" The girl yelled as she backed up again. Taking another step back, she bumped into the wall behind her and panicked slightly. She was trapped with her back literally up against the wall as Cooper covered the exit of the alleyway along with Darren and Declan coming from the entrance. Darren attempted to calm her down.

"Hey," Darren said as the thief focused on him. "I'm not looking for any trouble. I just want my money back. I promise." He couldn't see much of the girl's face except for her mouth due to a hood covering her head, but he could still tell from her slight movements that she took a few quick looks at Cooper and Declan.

"I don't trust you," she said as she slowly steeled herself. "The promise of a stranger means nothing to me."

"Then what can I do to have you trust me?" The thief seemed to stare at him for a moment as if wondering whether Darren's words were genuine. After a moment or two, she made her request.

"Call off your…" she paused and looked at Declan still at Darren's side for a moment, "beasts and maybe we can talk about this. Actions speak louder than words." Darren thought on it for a moment and answered.

"I'll pull them back to the ends of the alleyway. No more, no less." The thief seemed to contemplate for a moment, then she decided.

"Fine."

Darren turned towards his zerglings for a moment to order them but saw a flash of movement out of the corner of his eye. Moving on pure instinct, he ducked and felt the air above his head distort as the thief's fist flew through where his head was a second ago trying to get in a sucker punch. Capitalizing on the thief's surprise at her miss, Darren kicked one of her legs out from under her. The girl lost her grip on her knife and it clattered to the floor as Darren slammed her onto the floor with one hand on her throat. The fall had enough force that the hood fell from her head and Darren had his first good look with who he was dealing with.

Long blond hair that framed a heart-shaped face, almond-shaped eyes with green irises, and a light skin tone. Really, the best way he could describe her was that she was of European descent. Her cloak hid a slender figure that was accentuated by her skintight leather armor.

She was also glaring daggers at where she assumed his eyes were under his helmet. If looks could kill, Darren would have been dead ten times over.

"What was that," Darren asked. The girl blinked in confusion then glared at Darren again.

"What was what," she said defiantly.

"That punch from earlier," Darren clarified. "What were you trying to accomplish?" This time the thief's glare fell and all that was left was confusion.

"I was trying to get away. What else?"

"So, you tried to get away by using your fist to hit my head. My armored head."

"...Yes"

"And what were you going to do if you did somehow knock me out? I'd assume that you'd have a broken hand by now, but then there's another problem after that. You'd also have to fight off both Cooper and Declan at the same time. So, what exactly was your grand plan?"

"..."

"Well?"

"...eat of … ent."

"What was that?" The girl had a slight blush on her face as she spoke up.

"It was something in the heat of the moment." She couldn't see Darren's face, but his expressionless helmet felt like a deadpan. Blood rushed to her face in embarrassment.

Darren sighed in exasperation and was about to speak when he felt Cooper brush against his mind. He looked up and found the kids from the center were crowded around Cooper and trying to get the zergling to play with them. One of the kids looked into the alleyway and his eyes widened in shock. He ran past Cooper and yelled at Darren.

"Don't hurt big sis!" The thief's attention snapped toward the kids and the blood drained from her face.

"Ben," she yelled, "Don't come over here! Stay away!"

"You know these kids?" Darren asked the thief. She looked back at him in panic.

"I work at the orphanage with Father Timothy and Matron Abigail," she explained quickly. "The funding for the orphanage was cut some time ago and now we can barely pay for food, much less clothing or upkeep. Please, just take your money and do whatever you want with me, but don't hurt them."

Darren stared at her for a moment then took his pouch back from the girl. He backed off and the girl stood up to pull the younger orphan into a hug while Declan trotted up to his master. The girl saw Declan and moved in front of Ben. The orphan, however, once spotting Declan as well, moved from her and made his way to Declan with a smile. Before the thief could warn the boy off, he began to pet Declan and received a guttural purr in response. The thief looked towards Darren for an explanation, shock spread across her face.

"You don't have to worry about me," Darren said. "I met these kids earlier at the center. Some guard was giving them trouble." He knelt down on one knee and started to brush Declan with his hand.

"It's true, big sis," Ben spoke up. "If he wasn't there then Noah would've hurt us again." At the mention of Noah, the older girl's look of shock changed to one of contempt and anger.

"Of course, that bas-" she looked over at the gathered kids for a moment before continuing, "bad person had to be involved." She took a knee next to Ben and looked over him, ignoring his protests that he was fine. She saw a slight mark on the boy's check where Noah hit him and scowled. "We should head back to the orphanage and have Matron Abigail take a look at that."

"If you're heading back, then I'm coming with you," Darren spoke up. The girl looked over at him with a questioning look on her face. "You did try to steal from me and I'm sure that this Father Timothy and Matron Abigail would want to know. It would be better to tell them now than for them to find out later." The girl blushed slightly in embarrassment but nodded in agreement. "Also," Darren continued, "I don't know your name yet. I would rather know than just constantly call you 'the girl' in my head all the time." The girl stood up and patted down her pants before answering.

"Call me Elizabeth," she said with an outstretched hand. "And what should I call you?"

"The name's Darren," he said while shaking her hand. "If that's everything, please show me the way to the orphanage."

* * *

The walk took a good portion of the day and the group of children, two zerglings, and two young adults eventually made their way outside Chrimata's stone walls. By the time that the sun was nearing to set, they had made it to a courtyard of dilapidated buildings in various stages of disrepair.

On the left was what looked like a two-story residential building made of wood. Its windows were broken, and the door just barely hung onto the top hinge. Openings dotted the walls of the house. The most glaring thing about the building though was the giant hole in the roof.

The other two buildings, however, were in much better condition. On the right of the courtyard was a barn house with wood nailed into the sides where some holes were probably like patches on an old quilt. Finally, in between the two buildings was another two-story residential building in much greater repair than the first. This building had a mix of wooden walls and a stone base. There were a few cracks in the wooden walls, but it didn't seem to affect the building too badly.

As the group approached the middle building, Darren could see the windows lit and hear excited children. Once they had made it a few feet from the building the door flew open and a woman stepped out.

The woman had pretty features about her with chin-length red hair and pale skin. She wore a black outfit that a clergy member might wear with yellow accents on the sides and a white stripe down the middle. A pair of glasses hung on her nose and she had a black cap on her head with a silver cross pin in the side. When she saw Darren and the zerglings she had an expression of apprehension on her face that changed to relief when her eyes went to Elizabeth and the kids.

"Thank goodness you're alright," the woman said as she hugged Elizabeth and the children. She held them for a few seconds then put them at arm's-length and glared at them. "What have I told you children about being out so late? And you," she said toward Elizabeth, "what are you wearing? I thought you were going to be gone for only a few hours. It's almost the end of the day!"

The kids looked chastised and started explaining what they were doing all at the same time which resulted in a cacophony of young voices.

"We were just-"

"It was Brandon's fault-"

"-but we didn't-"

"What do you mean my fault!?"

The children's attempts of being overheard nearly turning into a screaming match until the woman raised her hand. The children silenced themselves immediately.

"You can explain yourselves to Father Timothy," the woman stated. "He will decide your punishment. Am I understood?"

"Yes, Matron Abigail," the kids droned out.

"Good," Matron Abigail responded. "Now go and wash up. It's time for dinner." The kids rushed inside and closed the door behind them. Matron Abigail gave a small sigh and turned to Elizabeth.

"It's good to see that you're fine, Elizabeth," the matron said as she hugged the girl. Elizabeth hugged the matron back and they held each other for a few seconds.

"You said you wouldn't be gone for long," the matron said as she released Elizabeth and placed her hands on the girl's cheeks. She turned to Darren and put her hands together in front of herself. "My apologies for not addressing you sooner, sir," she said calmly. "I am Matron Abigail and I watch over the orphanage alongside Father Timothy. May I ask what your business here is for?"

"He's here because of me, Abigail." The matron turned back to Elizabeth in confusion. Elizabeth hung her head in shame. The matron's eyes widened in shock as horror spread across her face. "I made a mistake and-"

Matron Abigail cut Elizabeth off.

"Elizabeth! There's no need to do what you did!" The girl looked up in surprise.

"You know what I did?"

"We aren't so desperate for money for the orphanage. You didn't have to go out and… exploit yourself for our sake." Elizabeth looked at Abigail in confusion while Darren stiffened on the side.

"What do you mean by 'exploit' myself," Elizabeth asked.

"I can assure you, ma'am, nothing like that happened," Darren spoke up quickly and slightly flustered. Abigail looked towards Darren.

"Thank you for trying to dissuade an old woman's fears, but I'm sure I can handle this knowledge."

"Okay," Elizabeth spoke as she looked at Darren and Matron Abigail in slight annoyance. "What exactly are you two talking about, and what does this have to do with 'exploiting' myself?"

Darren took pity on the girl and whispered in Elizabeth's ear. One short whispered explanation later and Darren pulled away. A moment or two of processing later and Elizabeth was blushing up a storm.

"No! That never happened, nothing like that happened! I didn't e-exploit myself."

"Oh," Abigail gasped with a blush. "I just assumed with what you're wearing… my apologies Elizabeth." She bowed her head at the girl then looked at her again. "But then why did you bring mister…" Abigail looked at Darren questioningly.

"Darren, Matron Abigail. Darren Miller," he answered her unspoken question.

"Thank you," she replied. She looked back at Elizabeth. "Why did you have to bring mister Miller here?" Once again, Elizabeth looked down in shame. She looked over at Darren and then back at Matron Abigail.

"I stole from him," Elizabeth answered. Matron Abigail blinked then frowned.

"Is that right," the matron asked looking at Darren. "Elizabeth stole from you?"

"That is correct," Darren said.

For a moment, Abigail looked as though she was about to reprimand Elizabeth for her actions. After a second, she deflated and sighed instead.

"Elizabeth," the matron started, "we will speak of this later." Elizabeth held her hands together and replied in a small voice.

"Yes, Matron Abigail."

"Good."

With that over and the matron's dismissal clear, Elizabeth walked past the older woman and walked into the orphanage. The matron pinched her nose and released a small sigh before turning her focus to Darren and his zerglings with a short bow.

"I apologize on behalf of Elizabeth for her untoward actions toward you. Also for me accidentally implying that you had such an… inappropriate relationship with her earlier."

"It's no trouble," Darren replied. "You're only looking out for her. I hope that I haven't caused too many problems for you though?"

"You won't have to worry too much about it. I suppose that, with the situation we're in, Elizabeth does have a right to be worried," Abigail said wistfully. She scoffed a moment later. "I wouldn't tell her that she needed to resort to stealing though." She looked at Darren in the eye. "Thank you, Mr. Miller. For not going to the guard about this I mean. The girl has good intentions at heart, even if her methods are a bit crass."

"You're welcome, Matron Abigail. And please, just call me Darren," Darren said with an outstretched hand. The matron smiled and reached out with her own hand.

"Then please call me Abigail from now on, Darren." After a short shake, they released each other.

Darren looked at his surroundings and noticed that the sun was setting on the horizon. Abigail seemed to notice as well.

"Darren," Abigail started, "would you like to stay for the night?"

"I wouldn't want to impose," Darren replied.

"There's no need to worry about that," Abigail reassured. "We have a few free beds just in case for guests. Besides, we are a ways away from Chrimata and dinner should be just about finished."

_I really don't want to impose, _Darren thought. _But it isn't a short walk back to Chrimata and a place to rest the night does sound nice… _

"I'll take you up on your offer, Abigail," Darren said with a nod.

"Wonderful! Then please come in. I'll introduce you."

* * *

"Alright! Food's ready," a deep voice shouted.

Those were the first words Darren heard as he entered the homey building. A playroom was the first room of the building which had two hallways on its sides. One hallway at the opposite end of the room led to a kitchen/dining room mix and the other hallway on the right lead to a bathroom and stairs to the second floor.

"I better see that you've all cleaned yourselves up before dinner," the deep voice from earlier said from the kitchen. "If I find that you didn't then I'm sending you back to get washed properly and your food will be cold by then."

A small flood of children came down the stairs and started lining up at the bathroom. They ranged from five to fourteen years of age from what Daren could see. They were being helped by Elizabeth who was now in similar attire to Abigail, minus the cap and glasses.

Once all of the children had finished washing themselves, they walked to the dining room. Some sent an occasional curiously look at Darren, still in full armor, and his zerglings as they passed by but none stopped to question him as Matron Abigail was with him. Elizabeth soon followed with a nod to Darren and Abigail. After a moment of Abigail checking to make sure all the kids had passed, she brought Darren and his zerglings to the dining room.

Inside there, Darren saw a man bowling out soup for each of the children that sat down. This man was the largest he had seen before in his life, standing at six and a half feet tall and as broad as a mountain with the muscles to match. Another thing that surprised Darren was that the man's skin pigment was a dark chocolate brown. This was the first time that he had seen anyone in this world whose skin color was not white. He wore clergy robes as well, but instead of black with yellow accents, it was mostly white with red accents and a large red stripe down the middle. A silver cross, like the one that Matron Abigail had, was pinned to his left breast. He had a jolly expression with the laugh lines across his face to match and a bald head.

"We're having potato stew and bread again kids," the man said as he went around the table holding a large pot and ladle in his hands with no visible effort. Halfway through the man noticed Darren. He sent a questioning glance towards Abigail and she nodded. The man relaxed and went back to serving out dinner.

Once he finished, the man stood at the head of the table where Elizabeth was also helping out and waved Abigail and Darren over. The two walked up there with the zerglings trailing behind them as the kids looked at them curiously. Once the two reached the table, Matron Abigail spoke.

"We have a guest today children and his name is Darren Miller. Now what do we say when there's a guest here?"

"Hello mister Miller," the children collectively said. Abigail smiled slightly.

"Wonderful. Please make sure to have him feel welcomed while he's here children. You may begin eating."

Without further ado, the kids dug in. A few complained about the food but they all generally seemed happy now. Darren's attention soon shifted to the large man approaching him.

"You must be Father Timothy," Darren said with a hand outstretched. The man grinned and clasped Darren's hand with his own, nearly enveloping it entirely due to its size.

"That I am, young one," Father Timothy replied boisterously. "And who might you be?"

"Darren Miller, father. You can just call me Darren though."

"Well then greetings, Darren. Call me Timothy." They released each other's hand. "Would you like to join us for a bowl? We have enough for a few extra mouths."

"I would love to."

Finding a seat near the head of the table, Darren sat down with his zerglings on either side of him. He was handed a bowl of stew and a small loaf of bread by Abigail. He took off his helmet and placed it to the side. When he was about to dip his bread into the stew, he felt a poke at his side. Darren turned his head and saw that one of the kids, a young girl, was looking at him with a scrunched-up expression.

"Your dogs are weird, mister."

"Mia!" Abigail reprimanded the girl. "Don't be rude to our guest."

"It's alright Abigail," Darren said amicably. He turned to address Mia. "Would you like to know what they are?" Slightly mollified by Matron Abigail, Mia nodded.

With a smile, Darren told her what he knew about the zerglings and their capabilities. He decided to tell her about how he and some zerglings took down the Rock Eaters. When he was halfway through his story, he noticed how the entire room seemed focused on him. They were enraptured when hearing how his zerglings tag teamed multiple Beta Rock Eaters and gasped when the Alpha appeared. They cheered when Darren told them how he dealt the killing blow with the help of Jack.

Darren was met with applause once he finished his story and he was about to head upstairs to find the one of the guest rooms with Timothy placed a large hand on his shoulder.

"Before you sleep," Timothy started, "I was wondering if we could have a short chat." Darren looked at him curiously but nodded. With a short order to Cooper and Declan to keep the kids' company, Darren followed Timothy to the playroom where he saw Abigail was waiting. Timothy spoke first.

"Firstly, let me thank you for letting the kids enjoy themselves. They don't usually like to talk with strangers because they typically get a… negative reaction from them. So thank you, again." Abigail nodded her silent thanks to Darren as well. "Abigail told me about what Elizabeth did and I wanted to apologize for any problems you may have had."

"Like I told Abigail, it's no problem," Darren said as he waved off the apology. "Elizabeth told me why she did what she did and, while I don't approve of her methods, it was for a good cause. So here." He tossed a pouch over to Timothy who caught it in one hand. His and Abigail's eyes widened at the unmistakable sound of clinking coins coming from the bag.

With a look of slight disbelief, Timothy opened the pouch and his jaw dropped. He looked back at Darren who had a small smirk on his face.

"That's the pouch that Elizabeth almost stole from me. Think of it as a donation to the orphanage and as thanks for letting me stay the night."

"You are a kind man Darren," Abigail said, recovering first. "Thank you for your generosity."

"Don't mention it. If that's everything, I'm going to be heading up."

"It is," Timothy said, closing the pouch. "Have a good night, Darren."

Nodding to the pair, Darren turned to go up to the next level. He whistled over to the dining room and heard his zerglings scrabbling to follow him as he went up. He found an open room near the end of the hall and went in, closing the door behind himself and sat on the bed provided for him.

He was about to settle in when something from out the window caught his eye. For a moment he thought that he saw some sort of flashing in the forest surrounding the back of the building. He stood up and focused on the forest. After a full five minutes of waiting, Darren decided that he saw nothing. He turned away from the window.

Then, out of the corner of his eye, another flash.

Without a moment's hesitation, Darren switched to his night vision. In the distance he could see lights moving up and down in a general line. He switched to infrared. The trees turned to a dark blue color and he made out red outlines in between. The outlines shifted and Darren could make out that they were human.

About ten men stood at the boundary of the forest with lanterns held between a few of them. Their movements showed that the group was trying to avoid being seen and while Darren could see them, he had no clue as to why they were there.

The group began to move away from the edge and deeper into the forest. Moving quickly and putting on his helmet, Darren and his zerglings left the room and went down the stairs towards the front door.

"Darren? Are you leaving already?" Elizabeth asked while watching the kids in the playroom.

"I'm just going for a walk," Darren replied. "But I might not be back for a while so don't wait up for me. See ya." He waved to her as he left.

Moving to the back of the building, Darren activated his infrared vision again. He saw the red silhouettes of the men and followed.

_Keep quiet,_ He mentally commanded Cooper and Declan. _It's time to find out why they were here._

**A/N: Obligatory filler chapter is fillery.**

**Not much action in this one, but I hope to have more in the next.**


	16. Chapter 16

**Feb 18, 2020 Update: I only updated the breaks in the lines so nothing new. Sorry :/**

"Wait."

"What?"

"..."

"..."

"Nothing, I thought I heard something. Let's keep going."

The group of men continued further into the forest, their lanterns lighting the way.

Some feet away, Darren released the breath he was holding. He had been trailing behind the men for the past half hour, making sure that none of them knew of his presence. A moment ago, Darren nearly tripped over some rocks he didn't see, drawing a startled gasp from him. The group ahead of him stopped, but ultimately decided it was nothing and continued.

Thankfully, Cooper and Declan had no problems traversing through the forest at night. They kept low to the ground and let their instincts as predators on the prowl guide them. Something that Darren, unfortunately, had little experience in. Still, with the enhanced senses thanks to his evolution, he was doing alright for the moment.

He continued following the group with his zerglings by his side using his night vision to guide himself through the dark. Another half-hour of walking passed by without complication. Just when Darren was about to wonder where the group was going, they stopped again.

Three of the men were keeping watch as the rest of the men started to pick apart a pile of foliage. A minute later showed that the foliage had camouflaged a brown tarp that the men soon pulled over. An upturned medium-sized wooden boat was revealed.

Darren frowned in confusion for a moment as the men lifted the boat over their heads and trudged on. A few moments of stalking later and Darren could hear calmly flowing water up ahead, relieving him of his confusion.

A clearing opened ahead, and the men trudged down to open dirt. They dropped the boat in the wide river and pushed it out. Most started pulling out oars to paddle upstream while two kept watch for the riverbanks, one to each side of the boat.

The boat was well enough into the river that they wouldn't see him stalking after them, much less hear a stray twig breaking underneath his feet. His night vision and infrared sight would keep them in range even if they had to cross over the river. He continued onward under the cover of the trees.

Eventually, the river started to thin, but not by much. The men paddled faster. Darren changed to a light jog to keep up as his zerglings trotted next to him. In the distance, Darren could make out a shape. It continued to grow as they got closer and Darren realized that they were walls.

_They're going to Chrimata?_

He heard a shout from the boat and turned to look. The men had slowed down and were making their way to the riverbank across from where Darren was at. He watched them make it to shore, pull the boat further into the brush, and cover it with the tarp. The men made their way into the trees while Darren watched.

After a minute to make sure that no one would be coming back, Darren and his zerglings jumped into the river and swam across to catch up. Drying himself once he made it across, Darren focused again on finding the group of men. He spotted what looked like a beaten path in the shrubbery and followed it.

Darren didn't see any of the men as he walked along the path and neither Cooper nor Declan seemed alerted. Regardless, he kept his guard up for any surprises.

Suddenly, a breath of air later, he wrinkled his nose in disgust.

_What the hell is that smell?_

As he walked further along the path, the smell grew stronger and he was forced to cover his nose with a hand. Making it to the end of the path, he found a large sewer entrance. It was about ten feet high and twice as wide, laid with cobblestone and the walls were covered in a thin mold. A small stream of water rushed out in a crevice between two walkways.

Darren turned away, hoping that this wasn't the path that the men took. But as he was about to walk away, he spotted a lamp almost hidden in the grass near the entrance. With a sigh of resignation and a moment of self-pity, Darren turned about-face and marched into the sewer with his zerglings following behind him.

* * *

He was lost.

_Is that the same crack in the wall a few minutes ago? Or was it an hour ago?_

At this point, he was sure he was lost.

Darren had been walking around the sewers for however long it had been, and no progress had been made to finding the group. There were no obvious marks, nothing left behind, no footprints to follow. He had completely lost the trail.

Darren laid against a spot on the wall that didn't have as much moss and sank to the floor. He slumped, staring at the floor.

Cooper and Declan came to his side and laid their bodies next to him. They let out a purr and placed their heads on his legs, feeling his dejection through the mental bond. Instinctively, Darren sent back a pulse of gratitude and scratched the top of their carapace covered heads. The purring rose in volume and the zerglings closed their eyes.

Darren smiled softly and leaned his head against the wall. He started to inspect the ceiling, attempting to keep himself distracted.

_Crack, crack, moss, crack, cobblestone, mushroom, weird mark, crack, mo-wait a second._

Darren straightened and his eyes shot to a spot on the ceiling. He found it again in a moment. He almost missed it, but with what limited light was available in the sewers enhanced by his night vision allowed him to spot a little glimmer in the ceiling. A symbol of two lines of metal meeting at a ninety-degree angle with a circular bottom and an 'X' in the middle was nearly hidden in a patch of moss. The sign was angled to one of the right-side passageways.

Staring at the sign curiously, Darren got up and went down the passage that was indicated. After a few minutes of walking, the tunnel led to a dead end. Now thoroughly confused and more than slightly peeved, Darren was about to try and find the way out until he saw another mark. It was like the one he saw on the ceiling earlier, except this one was carved into a brick on the wall. He rubbed a hand against the brick, pressing it on the symbol.

_**CLICK**_

_**RUMBLE**_

Darren stepped back and brought his fists up at the rumbling as Cooper and Declan jumped in front of Darren and growled, claws at the ready. In front of them, a small part of the wall shifted backward and then to the side slowly. Once finished, it revealed a wide spiraling stairway going downward with torches on the walls.

Darren waited for a moment to see if anything else would happen, and when nothing did, he decided to follow the path and see where it would lead him. It was better than just leaving at this point. Walking down the stairs with Cooper and Declan at his heels, Darren made his way down.

_**RUMBLE**_

Darren looked behind himself and saw the wall closing behind him. With a shrug of his shoulders, he continued down the stairs.

* * *

_**CLINK**_

How long had it been? Since she saw the sun?

_**CLINK**_

Was it days? Weeks? A month maybe?

_**CLINK**_

It didn't really matter now. She had no reliable way of knowing in the first place and it wasn't like her captors were going to tell her anyway. It could've been a year for all she knew.

Keeping a hold of the dirty cloth around her shoulders, she sluggishly made her way to the bars of her confine, gripped the rusty metal poles and looked to the right where sounds of raucous laughter emanated from. She couldn't see them, but she could still remember the way that they would leer at her as they passed. Thankfully, none of them had tried anything so far as she overheard one of them say that under no circumstances was, she to be more damaged than she already was.

Thinking on that though made a ball of fear nest in the pit of her stomach. Sure, she would eventually be free of this place, but she was no idiot as to think that this would be the end of her nightmare. These men were being paid to keep her here and the final payment would be given after she was taken away like a pet. And from the way she overheard any conversation pertaining to her… patron, she did not like her chances.

The metal bars, though extremely rusty, were too strong to escape from. Any chance of escape from her captors would be impossible even if she wasn't famished. Besides all that though, she had no clue as to where she was or if she could find anyone willing to help.

_**CLINK **_

And then there was the chain to her ankle attached to the back wall, reinforced by a new foot cuff made of eudium. Her attempts to file down the foot cuff from before were noticed just recently.

She sighed and pressed her head against one of the bars. She felt tears pooling at the edges of her eyes but wiped them away before they could fall. The old lessons that she had been taught surfaced in her mind. How she must never show weakness in the face of danger, no matter how troubling or life-threatening it may be. To remain strong and stand tall. To prove that she was a proud citizen of the Elven queendom, Ayi Thalore.

Taking a deep breath to calm herself, she sat down and crossed her legs in a meditative stance. Her eyes closed and she focused on the world around her. The eudium tampered with the connection to her magi abilities, but it couldn't completely cut the connection. She felt the earth around her, the metal in the poles of her cage, the fires that burned in their torches. She expanded her range.

She could feel the breaths of air from her captors, the rats that scurried around in their corners, the insects crawling in the soil around her. Again, she expanded her range. At this point, she was sweating slightly from the strain of her magic being limited by the eudium, but she continued, nonetheless.

_**RUMBLE**_

Her ears twitched in surprise and she almost lost her concentration, but she focused again. She heard another quiet rumble and footsteps coming down the stairs. Releasing her concentration and opening her eyes, her magic dissipated and she contemplated what she found out.

From what she knew, none of the groups that had left their chamber went by her cell without saying something to her. The only exit to this place was the one near her cell and all of the men who left had already come back. She was rather, unfortunately, knowledgeable of her captors by this point so she knew that their outings would have ended by this time. Her captors didn't seem to have heard the rumbling and none, as far as she knew, were expecting anyone. So, who would ever…

She broke out in a cold sweat. She shivered and hugged herself while pressing her body to the wall farthest from the bars of her cage in a vain attempt to make herself invisible.

The only thought that made sense to her was that her patron had come for her. She was going to be taken away again. She would never see the forests of Ayi Thalore again.

She would never be free.

* * *

Darren went down the stairs for what seemed to be an eternity. He was constantly on guard for anything that might happen but as he continued to move without difficulty, he became more on edge. Finally, after what was probably only a few minutes, he made it to the end. He slowly took in his surroundings.

It was a long and wide corridor made of cobblestone with a large wooden door at the end. On his left and right were rows cells around seven feet in length and ten feet wide. Each was separated by a foot-wide wall with rusted metal making up the bars. They all looked unused and some still held their occupants from a previous time, nothing left but rags and bones.

Cooper and Declan went ahead to scout out the cells while Darren inspected the one closest to his left. The lock on the door was just as rusted as the bars, but it was still in working condition. If he tried, Darren was sure that he could pry the bars apart, though it wouldn't be very quiet. He continued to inspect the cage for anything else.

_**CLINK**_

Darren turned to the sound. His zerglings moved without prompting to a cell on the right, the second one down from the door. As he walked over to the cell to see for himself what was there, he heard a different sound.

A soft whimper.

Now curious about what was there, he quickened his pace until he stood in front of the door. This cell was cleaner than the others, but not by much. At first, he didn't see anything as the torches cast a low light, but a moment later he saw a cloth-covered figure in the corner.

_A prisoner_, Darren thought with some surprise. While he was expecting to find something in this place, a prisoner wasn't one of them.

His first thought was to free the person, but Darren made no moves to do so. For all he knew, the reason there was someone here was that they were extremely dangerous. Being cautious hadn't steered him wrong yet, so he would continue to be wary.

_Still_, Darren thought with a frown, _it doesn't feel right to just leave without knowing who this is._

"Ahahahahahahahhahaha!"

Boisterous laughter made Darren turn his head toward the nearby wooden door and he noticed that, with no small amount of curiosity, the prisoner seemed to curl in on themself slightly. Determined to figure out just what was happening down here, Darren walked up to the door and put his ear against it. A normal human ear would typically have trouble hearing anything through a wooden door as thick as this one. However, Darren wasn't a normal human.

"It wasn't even that funny," someone said gloomily.

"It's funny 'cause it happened to you! Ahahahahahahahhahaha!" The voice from earlier said something under his breath, but it only served to make the other man laugh harder. After a while, it calmed down.

"Ahh, I can't wait to get out of here," a voice said. "These sewers are complete crap."

"You said it," a young voice replied. "I'm sick and tired of this place. I just want some good bread, not this roasted shit on a stick"

"How much are we even getting paid for this," someone else spoke up. "I mean, the business is pretty normal, but we don't usually wait this long. And what was that thing about scouting out that orphan house?"

"Do I have to remind you who we answer to," a sarcastic reply answered. "We get paid and don't ask questions." Darren heard a shuffling sound and the same voice but quieter as if the man was whispering. "And you never heard this from me, but I heard the client was some noble in the capital. So, that means we be extra careful with the package."

"But can't I just have a round with her," another whined. "She's a pretty thing. Ain't seen nothing like her before. What that prissy noble don't know won't hurt'em."

_**SMASH**_

The unexpected sound of glass smashing against stone made Darren flinch. He put his ear to the door again and heard an angry voice.

"Gods, you must be a bigger idiot than I thought! Don't you remember that pretty much all the nobles are some kind of Magi?"

"Oh, right."

Silence reigned on the other side of the door.

"Hey, wait," one spoke up. "You still didn't say why we scouted out that orphan house." Darren heard a sigh, but someone answered.

"Fine, I'll tell you. It was something for Noah, I owed the bastard and he wanted to know something."

Darren froze.

"Well," someone said with impatience, "what'd he wanna know?"

"He said something about 'wanting to get even' and that 'no one humiliates him in his town'."

Darren narrowed his eyes in thought, Noah was probably talking about him. If the bastard wanted another fight, then he would beat the guard into the ground this time.

"Not sure why Noah wanted to know about some orphan though."

_What?_

"Noah wants to know about a kid?"

"Yeah. Think his name was Ben or something? Said he's gonna do something to the orphanage. Anyway, that's Noah's problem, not mine."

Fire burned in Darren's being. His fists clenched so tightly that his carapace armor almost squealed at the pressure being put on them. A low growl escaped the throats of himself and his zerglings before Darren forcibly calmed himself and his zerglings though the mental bond. The few moments of calming himself almost cost him though as he heard footsteps making their way to the door.

Hastily backing away from the door, Darren and his zerglings hid behind the swing of the door and stayed still in a dark corner as three men walked out. One swung the door behind them, none the wiser of the threat looming behind them, and they walked to the second cell down the corridor.

Darren and his zerglings slowly stalked behind the three and waited patiently. The three men, still unaware of the danger, stared at whom Darren presumed was the mentioned 'package' from earlier. One of the men raised an arm.

_**CLANG**_

_**CLANG**_

_**CLANG**_

"Hey! You awake in there?" The man in the middle shouted more at the girl while the other two men jeered.

The figure shifted and the cloth fell from her face. Darren couldn't help but stare in shock. She had long white hair that fell down to her back. Pale skin that seemed to radiate an otherworldly beauty without a single imperfection to be seen. Instead of rounded ears, hers were long and pointed. But the most expressive thing about her were her eyes, a deep violet color that seemed to see into his soul. Those eyes were glaring defiantly toward her captors as they continued to garner some reaction from her. To Darren though, he could only think of one thing.

_Beautiful… _

"Well elf," the middle man started, the elf's eyes focusing on the man. "It looks like this'll be the last night you stay in our loving care." The man saw confusion in her eyes and continued. "Our most generous employer has informed us that you'll be with our client by tomorrow morning."

The elf's resolve wavered, but she recovered quickly and glared at the men. The man on the left caught the slip though.

"You elves think you're so high and mighty don't ya," the left man spoke up. "Acting like nothing can hurt ya and that you're so untouchable, eh? Well, guess what, weed eater. You aren't the first elf we've had here." Again, her resolve wavered and again the man caught onto it. "Oh yes, 'cause ya see dearie, we've been in this business for quite a while now and we know a thing or two 'bout you elves. You think that you're all so united. Well guess again, 'cause you're not! How else do you think we found you?"

The elf's eyes widened in shock. Seeing that they were getting somewhere, the man on the right decided to jump in.

"It wasn't very hard, you know. All we had to do was wait and voila! There you were, prancing about without a care in the world. You were special though 'cause with the job we got, it sounded like whoever it was really wanted to get rid of you. And like the man said before, you aren't the first we got like this and you certainly won't be the last."

Tears threatened to fall from her reddened eyes. She had a broken expression on her face that made the men laugh as if it was the funniest thing in the world.

Darren wanted to tear their arms off. He hated bullies and this was crossing the line; it made him hate himself for his inaction and his thought process. The pragmatic thing right now would be to sneak out while the men were distracted. The pragmatic thing would be to get Abraham, the Captain of the Guard, to tell someone more important about what he found. The pragmatic thing would be to ignore the situation as it unfolded itself so that he could deal with it later. There was just one problem.

Her violet eyes turned to him.

He could see how she hated her situation and how she hated that she was powerless to do anything about it. He saw sadness, anger, and desperation. He saw how defeated she felt. But the thing that he saw the most was hopelessness. It was at that moment that Darren found what he hated most, above bullies and beatings.

He hated seeing those eyes look so hopeless.

"Hahaha-!"

_**CLANG**_

The men on the left and right jumped in shock as their comrade's face was slammed into one of the bars, his nose broken and a few teeth lost, by an armored hand. Following the arm back with their eyes they saw a black armored demon. They pulled out knives and made to swing at Darren, but were tackled by Cooper and Declan in tandem, losing the grip on their knives in favor of trying to dislodge the zerglings.

Darren kneeled next to the man on the right slowly and brought up his pointed digits to the man's face. The man stopped struggling and froze in fear, staring at the figure looming over him like death itself.

"W-Wha-Wh-" Darren put a clawed finger to the stuttering man's lips.

"Shhhhh," he shushed the man. "You will speak when I want you to or…" Darren raised his other clawed hand and Cooper growled as menacing as he could. The acrid smell of urine assaulted his nose. "Then it seems we've come to an understanding. Now, tell me everything you know abo-"

"Look out!"

_**SCRAPE**_

Darren felt a pressure on his left side then heard something slide off his armor. In an instant, he lashed out at whatever just tried to attack him with a slash of his claws.

_**SHLICK**_

"Eragghhh!"

The middle man's hands flew to his neck as he slowly choked on his own blood. Darren lowered his hand and blinked in surprise as he watched the man whose throat he slashed, who was also apparently not knocked out like he first believed, die in front of him. He heard and read that people who kill for the first time feel like something about themselves changed or that they felt sick of their actions.

_I'm… oddly okay with this,_ Darren thought to himself. In fact, he was more bothered by the fact that he was okay with killing than the actual act of doing it. He gave a mental shrug and decided to deal with it later if it ever became more of a problem.

He turned to the elf who had tried to warn him. She was staring at the body in shock and slight revulsion but, when she turned to him, she looked thankful. He nodded at her.

Darren looked back at the man Cooper had tackled and thus missed the elf's shocked look. The man he had threatened earlier looked ready to pass out from fear, but his attention hadn't left Darren's other hand close to his face.

"Now then," Darren started, grabbing the man's attention. "How about you start-"

"We need help out here!"

Darren wanted to facepalm.

The door at the end of the hall flew open and a man rushed out with a sword raised high and a roar.

_**FWIP**_

The man stood still for a moment and dropped his sword. He took a step back then fell backward, already dead with a hydralisk spine lodged in his right eye. Eight men, all armed with swords and axes, were revealed to be behind the man, all wide-eyed in shock. One at the back, who was somewhat cleaner than the others, recovered faster than his comrades and quickly took control of the situation.

"What are you lot waiting for, an invitation!? Kill the bastard!"

The other seven snapped out of their shock and rushed through the door. Darren threw another spine and managed to kill one of the men rushing him. The remaining six just charged closer. Darren and his zerglings were forced to back up towards the staircase and wait for an opening. One man swung his sword at Darren who dodged to the side and sent out a mental command.

_Kill these ones but keep the last alive!_

Cooper and Declan acknowledged the orders with glee and pounced on the men, claws and talons ready. Darren dealt with the man in front of him by pulling on his arm and slashing out with his claws, striking him across the chest. The two living men who had mocked the elf had recovered and both swung at Darren with swords. Darren trusted his carapace armor to protect him and moved into their space, effectively making the swords' reach useless. He punched one in the face as hard as he could, essentially caving in the man's head, and hit the other man in the stomach, making him bend over in pain. Darren finished by kneeing the man in the face and hearing his jaw break.

Cooper had baited a man into swinging early and, before the man could recover, Cooper charged the man and jumped onto him. As they fell to the floor Cooper used his talons to pierce the man's torso and tore out the man's throat savagely with his fangs. Declan charged a man but was hit by a glancing blow from an axe. Turning his attention to the new threat, he sliced the axeman instead and was rewarded with a leg. The man fell and screamed at the top of his lungs while holding his shortened appendage but was shortly silenced by Declan.

Growing desperate by their dwindling numbers, the remaining five men ran back and shut themselves in the room, locking the big wooden door. Darren walked leisurely to the door and heard the sound of objects being stacked to reinforce the door. He brought up a fist and pulled back.

_**BOOM**_

The wood shuddered at the impact and Darren could hear the voices on the other side raise in volume. He pulled his fist back again.

_**BOOM**_

The wood shuddered again, but there was a slight imprint on the door now.

_**BOOM**_

_**CRACK**_

His fist burst through the door on the third swing. He pulled it out and leaned into the newly formed hole to see inside. The men on the other side stared fearfully in silence and pointed their weapons toward the door, some visibly shaking. Darren pulled back and turned to his zerglings.

_Open it._

With a deafening screech, Cooper and Declan began to gleefully tear the door to pieces. In mere moments, the door and whatever was behind it was reduced to splinters, leaving the five remaining men to their fate.

Yelling in defiance, two of the men charged with swords held high as Darren stepped through the newly made hole. Darren grabbed one of each of their arms in his hands and squeezed tightly enough to hear the creaking of their bones. The men dropped their swords and shouted in pain as they felt the pressure increase on their arms. Darren threw them to the side and let his zerglings finish them off.

_Just two more and that last guy,_ Darren thought to himself. The two men that he didn't care about had been reduced to nervous wrecks while the one that commanded them seemed to be doing a marginally better job at remaining calm.

Darren dashed forward towards the man, completely ignoring the other two, and held him up by the collar of his shirt. Now, the man had completely lost any semblance of calm and began to panic as he scrabbled at Darren's fingers. The other two men tried to run and abandon their ally to his fate, but both were quickly stopped by Cooper and Declan as they finished their master's orders to the letter.

The man in Darren's grasp struggled even more after seeing his comrades' grisly deaths. Darren brought the man who suddenly froze in his grasp close to his face and whispered menacingly.

"You're going to tell me everything you know."

* * *

After dealing with the man, Darren walked out of the room and went down to the cell with the elf. She stared at him questioningly as if to ask why he was still here. Darren looked at the rusty bars of the cell door. For a moment he did nothing, then he gripped the bars and pulled.

_**CREAK**_

He stopped to catch his breath. Turning to the elf, he saw her looking at him in surprise. He turned back and pulled on the bars again.

_**SNAP**_

Both their gazes shot to one of the hinges on the side. It had snapped off. Darren pulled as hard as he could.

_**SNAP**_

_**SNAP**_

_**BOOM**_

Darren dropped the door and walked in, his zerglings making their way in behind him. The elf backed up as far as she could against the wall with a look of fear as Darren made his way to her. He saw the foot cuff and went to remove it, but she pulled back.

"Let me help you," Darren said softly as he looked at her. The elf jolted in shock and stared at him wide-eyed. Darren went for the foot cuff again, slower this time to not startle the elf. She looked at him suspiciously but did not try to stop him as he touched the foot cuff.

He pulled back immediately with a hiss of pain as his hands touched the metal and stared at them in surprise. When he touched the metal, Darren could feel a strange sensation of energy leaving him.

"It is eudium."

Darren looked at the elf. She was looking at him in confusion.

"The cuff is made of eudium," she said. "It is the metal that negates a Magi's abilities. Have you not heard of this?" Darren shook his head while his zerglings sniffed the metal and recoiled. "If my abilities were not as weakened as they are, I would have already freed myself," she muttered to herself.

Darren overheard her words but didn't comment on them. She looked sad and he couldn't think of a way to lift her spirits at the moment. Although looking at the foot cuff, he could think of something that might help…

The elf was so deep in her thoughts that she didn't see Darren's hands reach for the foot cuff until he touched it. She gave a small jolt in surprise when she realized that Darren had put both hands in the foot cuff and tried to pull it apart.

"You should stop," the elf started. "Anything made of eudium will sap a Magi's energy and it is a fool's errand to-"

_**SNAP**_

The elf stopped talking and instead stared at the foot cuff that had nearly broken apart in Darren's grasp. With another pull, Darren broke the foot cuff open and immediately dropped it, ending the draining effect. He stood up and staggered tiredly as if he had run for miles without stopping for months. Darren walked outside of the cell and leaned on the opposite wall as he tried to recover.

"Arrghh!"

Darren quickly turned around and saw one of the men, the one with the broken jaw, with an axe raised high. His zerglings were still in the cell with the elf, but they wouldn't make it in time. Darren put up an arm in defense and trusted in his armor again.

_**RUMBLE**_

_**SHLICK**_

All of a sudden, a stalagmite grew from the ground and stabbed into the heart of the man. He gaped in astonishment then gasped his last few breaths and died, slumping on the new rock now holding him up. Confused but relieved, Darren examined the stalagmite.

"Are you unharmed?"

Darren turned to see the elf and saw her standing with the help of Cooper, Declan just behind her.

"Yes," Darren said. "Thank you."

"You are welcome," she replied. She took a step forward without Cooper's help and almost fell. Darren moved quickly and caught her arm, putting it over his shoulders to help hold her up.

"You look exhausted," Darren commented.

"Yes, energy drain will do that for a Magi." They stayed silent for a moment, letting the events catch up to them. Darren spoke up first.

"I'm Darren, Darren Miller. Wanna get out of here?" The elf examined him for a moment then looked ahead at the stairs.

"Yes, I would appreciate it if you could help me leave." They made their way to the stairs and started going up with the zerglings trailing behind them. She turned to Darren once more with tired eyes. "My name is Aenwyn Ulavyre."

**A/N: Oh wow. An update that didn't take two months to do. That probably isn't going to happen again.**


	17. Chapter 17

Rain fell from a cloudy sky as Darren, Aenwyn, and the zerglings walked on the path to Chrimata. When the four had left earlier there were only a few clouds in the mostly clear sky, but after an hour walking, grey clouds appeared, and it poured hard. Darren was just glad that Abigail and Timothy had given Aenwyn a heavy cloak so that she could hide herself.

Speaking of the pair of adults, they were the only ones awake when Darren had brought his plus one in the middle of the night. While surprised by the development, they welcomed Aenwyn with open arms and let her stay in the room next to Darren's. The two never asked for an explanation of why Aenwyn was here and instead tried to be as welcoming as possible. It was something that she seemed to appreciate.

When Elizabeth had come downstairs to start the day, she seemed perplexed and apprehensive. Darren was unsure as to why Elizabeth was somewhat cold towards Aenwyn, even when the elf was nothing less than cordial. It confused him, but he didn't let it bother him as there were more important things to think about.

Such as the fact that they were off to find Abraham so that Darren could explain what he had found out.

_I just hope that the rain lets up,_ Darren thought. From what he knew, they were only about halfway to Chrimata and, if the rain didn't get lighter, then chances were that it would be well into the afternoon when they reached the inn the knights were staying at. Not having many ideas to pass the time as they walked, Darren turned to Aenwyn.

"Hey, Aenwyn," Darren called to her.

"Yes, Darren?" Aenwyn asked when she turned to him.

"What's the name of your kingdom," the young man said, trying to make any sort of conversation. "I couldn't find it in any of the books I found."

"First it is a queendom rather than a kingdom. Secondly, it is called Ayi Thalore."

"Ah. Cool," Darren smartly said as Aenwyn went back to focusing on the road in front of them. A few minutes of silence passed until Darren spoke up again. "Why is it a queendom?" After a pause, Aenwyn spoke.

"That will take some time to explain. We elves are typically known for unity, whether it be to our families or our people. Before this though, the elves used to consist of warring clans that always strived for more power. The borders to our forests were closed to outsiders and interlopers were killed on sight no matter the reason. This is until one elf decided to unite the clans, the Hero Queen, Thalia Farthana. It took a generation or two, but she eventually made agreements between the clans and thus our unity began. For centuries we have been united against all that would threaten our people and the hero queen was the one to lead us. Some would say that having a singular leader for so long makes us weak, but it is my belief that no other elf could do better."

Darren had a few more questions, like how long does an elf live for exactly if the hero queen was centuries old, but he decided to go for a different question instead.

"So, would you say that Thalia Farthana is your hero in a way?"

"I would say she is more of an example for all of my people." Aenwyn looked thoughtful for a moment, then smiled. "As for who is my hero… my hero will always be my mother." It was the first time Darren had seen her smile and he tried to keep the conversation going.

"What's she like?"

Aenwyn turned and looked at him. "My mother?"

"If you don't mind." Aenwyn was silent as they walked, then she smiled again.

"My mother is the kind of woman who does not stop for anyone. She would pursue her goals without rest rather than heed the advice of those who would try to stop her for her own good, besides my father of course," Aenwyn finished with a giggle.

Darren felt himself smile and, in response to his emotions, Cooper trotted up to Aenwyn and put his head under her hand. Aenwyn jumped in surprise but saw the expectant look in Cooper's eyes and she started to pet him. The zergling purred in response. Aenwyn smiled slightly and looked at Darren.

"What else would you like to know?"

"Well…"

And so, they continued on like that. Soon the rain lightened up a little and the road to Chrimata was easier to walk.

* * *

It took a while and it was still raining, but eventually, the small group made their way to the inn without complication. Just as Darren was about to open the door, it flew open showing Jones decked out in full armor being followed by a few other knights.

"Right, so I'll look for Darren around the market and you men go look aro-" Jones cut himself off once he saw Darren. "Darren! There you are, we were getting worried when you didn't show up last night."

"Sorry about that Jones," Darren replied as he gestured to Aenwyn, "but I had something that I needed to do yesterday, and it took me outside Chrimata." Jones eyed the cloaked Aenwyn curiously but didn't say anything. Instead, he turned back to Darren.

"Well, alright then. By the way, Abraham wanted to talk to you about something. He's inside right now."

"Perfect, I needed to talk to him too." Making his way inside with the others following him, Darren found Abraham sitting at one of the tables near the wall and walked over.

"You had us worried, you know," Abraham huffed as Darren walked over. "Jones and a few others were wondering where exactly you had gone."

"And I'll explain that soon enough," Darren said. He looked around the room and saw a few of the other customers glance at them curiously. Darren leaned in and spoke in a lower tone. "We should discuss this in private though. Meet me up in my room."

Seeing Abraham nod a moment later, Darren turned to Aenwyn and gestured for her to follow him. They went up to the second story, followed by Cooper and Declan, and waited inside Darren's room for Abraham. Aenwyn sat on the bed while Cooper and Declan went to lay by her feet. Darren sat at the table in the middle of the room and took his helmet off as he reviewed what he had learned from the slaver leader last night.

* * *

-Last night-

"You're going to tell me everything you know," Darren whispered menacingly as he got closer to the man's face.

"P-Please, don't hurt me! I'll tell you whatever you want! J-Just please don't hurt me!" The man struggled more in Darren's grip and tried to free himself.

"If you don't stop struggling, I'll make you stop." Instantly, the man stopped struggling. Now that the situation was somewhat calmer, Darren could actually examine the man. Scars covered his face, and at first glance, it would make people turn away. He wasn't a young man, that was for sure, but he wasn't old either. Though he might have been the oldest of the group as some of the youngest Darren had killed were only just slightly older than he was. Still, they had tried to kill him so he wouldn't cry too much over them.

"First," Darren started, "what is all this?" The man in his grasp blinked in confusion.

"Y-You don't know? About the black market?" Eyes widening behind his helmet at that information, Darren shook the man in his grasp.

"Answer me!" The man cowered from Darren's roar.

"Serenity! It's called Serenity!"

"Good. Now, who do you answer to?"

"I don't know." The zerglings growled and showed off their talons while coming closer to the man. "I-I really don't know," the man stuttered in fear. "All I know is that we answer to the Overseers and they answer to the Council."

"Do you know anyone who could tell me more?" After a moment's silence, the man answered in a whisper.

"Noah. He works at the guard station near the center of Chrimata. He's the only one who knows who the Overseer for Chrimata is."

Once again, Darren felt anger burn inside him at Noah's name. This time he calmed down faster than before and focused on the situation at hand. He knew this was connected to the black market, that Noah was somehow a part of it, and that there was someone that needed help a few feet away. Darren let go of the man and dropped him. Turning away, he made his way towards the exit and was going to find the elf but was stopped by the slaver raising his voice.

"Don't think this over!" The slaver stood up and pointed at Darren, getting louder and more confident as he shouted. "Just 'cause you stopped us doesn't mean it's over! We're everywhere and no one can stop us! Not the royals, not the knights, and certainly not some two-bit bastard who thinks he can just screw things up and-"

_**FWIP**_

Darren walked purposefully towards the elf as the man fell backward, dead with a spine lodged in his eye.

* * *

As Darren was going over what he had learned, a knock was heard from the door.

"It's me," came Abraham's voice.

Darren stood up and made his way to the door to open it showing Abraham and one of the other knights on the other side. With a questioning look at the other knight, Darren let the two men in and examined the hallway for any eavesdroppers before closing the door. Motioning towards the table, the three men sat down while Aenwyn and the zerglings stayed by the bed.

"First off," Abraham stated, "I believed that whatever you had to say to me, that my second-in-command would also have to hear."

"I don't believe we've introduced one another," the unidentified man said. He was slightly shorter than Abraham but just as muscular. There was a nicely trimmed grey mustache on his face that reminded Darren of a stereotypical looking aristocrat on TV. The man reached out with his right arm. "The name's Gilbert. At your service, Magi Darren."

Darren reached out to meet him and shook his hand. "Nice to meet you Gilbert. And please, just call me Darren." Introductions over, Darren went right into it. "Firstly, I'm sure that both of you are aware of rumors of a black market, right?"

Both men nodded their heads in confirmation.

"Well, I'm here to tell you that it does, in fact, exist."

Both men's eyes widened in interest. "And you can prove this," Abraham asked. "You have evidence?"

"I can do you one better." Darren waved over Aenwyn. She walked to the table to take a seat and pulled down her cloak hood. "I have a witness."

Once they had gotten over their shock at seeing Aenwyn, the two men listened as Darren recounted what happened last night. While they didn't seem to react much, Darren could see Abraham's fist tighten and Gilbert's eyes narrow slightly when he mentioned how he found Aenwyn prisoner. Darren finished up by explaining what he found out from questioning the leader which led the knights to look at each other for a moment.

"Just to make sure," Gilbert started, "all of these events occurred last night?"

Darren nodded.

Gilbert looked at Aenwyn. "And you can verify that what he said was all true? That you were a victim of the slavers?"

"All Darren said was true," Aenwyn said, bristling slightly.

"I just needed to make sure," Gilbert stated. "It is my duty as second to verify all information, no matter the source." Aenwyn and Darren nodded their understanding.

"What you say is troubling," Abraham said. "While we were aware of rumors, actual evidence has been impossible to come by. But here you are bringing not only testimony in the form of a witness, but a name to go with it. Serenity." Abraham said the name slowly like he was tasting it.

"It's more than we had before," Gilbert took over. "We at least have something to look for rather than baseless rumors."

Abraham sighed. "That is true." After a moment's silence, Abraham spoke to Darren. "You said that a man named Noah would know more about Serenity's whereabouts, correct?"

"Yeah, and that he should be near Chrimata's center," Darren said. The group took some time to digest what they heard. "I think we should find him."

"Agreed," Gilbert said.

"Then I suppose that's what we'll do. Shall you be joining us, Lady Aenwyn," Abraham asked.

"Yes, I would like to see the faces of those who would have me imprisoned and sold," Aenwyn said. "And please, call me Aenwyn. There is no need for formalities."

Nodding his assent, Abraham stood up and went towards the door followed by Gilbert. He turned to Darren and Aenwyn, still sitting down. "We will leave in a few hours then. I need to tell Jones and the rest of the men to wait here for us."

"Got it," Darren said. "We'll see you later." With another nod the two knights left.

Once the door closed Aenwyn let out a sigh and leaned back against the chair she was sitting on.

"You alright?"

Aenwyn looked to Darren who stared at her in concern. "Yes, I am fine. Thank you," she said tiredly.

Darren didn't notice earlier, but now that he was focusing on Aenwyn he could see her brow crease. There were some bags under her eyes, nearly unnoticeable, and she seemed unsteady. It was a wonder he hadn't noticed it before when they were walking. "You sure?"

Aenwyn glared at him. "Yes, I am perfectly sure," she said irritably. She stood up and began to walk to the door as she spoke loudly. "I am perfectly alright, and I am ready to leave whenever-" Aenwyn stumbled, reaching for the wall. Acting quickly, Darren was at her side and held Aenwyn up with a hand on her shoulder to steady her.

"You could use some rest," Darren said. Aenwyn glared at him again and was about to speak until Darren firmly cut her off. "You haven't fully recovered and it's clear you're tired. Have some sleep, eat some food, and then we'll go."

"But-"

"Noah isn't going anywhere, and as far as we know, he doesn't know that you escaped. You being tired will only slow us down." Aenwyn glared at the wall, but Darren could see that his words were getting through to her. "Just a bit of rest and I promise that we'll find the bastards as fast as possible," Darren said softly.

Aenwyn looked at Darren for a moment, her eyes searching for something in his own. She looked away once she was satisfied and went to the bed, taking off the cloak and pulling the covers over her as she lied down. After a few moments, Darren could hear Aenwyn's breathing even out showing just how tired she really was.

Darren stayed for a few minutes to make sure that she was asleep then made his way to the door. Sending instructions to Cooper and Declan to guard the room, he went down to the pub of the inn to grab some food for when Aenwyn woke up. Hopefully, the rain would let up by the time Aenwyn was rested.

* * *

The rain didn't let up at all. In fact, it got even harder.

The street, usually crowded full of people and quickly set up street shops, was barren save for the occasional person walking by, hiding under the cover of the nearby buildings. They didn't however, and instead walked through the middle of the cobblestone paved road.

The group, composed of Abraham, Gilbert, Aenwyn, Darren, and the zerglings, made their way to Chrimata's center. Abraham and Gilbert were decked out in full plate armor with the visors of their helmets down to cover their faces from the rain. Darren himself was also fully covered in his black carapace armor with the zerglings trailing behind him. Aenwyn still had her cloak and some better clothing generously provided by the innkeeper.

They had left a few minutes ago once Abraham had finished giving out orders to his knights and had made plans in case something went wrong. It may have seemed paranoid to take so long, but the man was experienced and went over everything with a critical eye, making sure to leave nothing to chance.

Right now, the group was following Abraham as he knew the town better than anyone here. Gilbert was a step to his left. Darren and Aenwyn were just a few feet behind them, but they kept up.

"Darren."

The young man turned to Aenwyn curiously. The elf had been silent since she had woken up from her nap and kept from conversing with anyone. When Cooper and Declan had begged for attention all she had done was pet them once.

"I would like to… apologize for earlier today." Aenwyn didn't turn to look at him and her cloak hid her face. "I was not myself, but that is hardly an excuse for my actions." She stopped talking and they continued walking in silence.

"It's no problem," Darren said. "It's like you said, you weren't yourself."

Aenwyn looked over at him and through the rain, Darren could see the surprise on her face. Darren grinned at her, hoping to convey that he had no hard feelings over what happened. She turned her head forward and didn't say anything else, but Darren spotted a small smile before her cloak hid her face again.

The group walked for the next few minutes and soon made it to Chrimata's center. Abraham took a quick look around and nodded to one of the streets. They followed him, passing by buildings that looked more official than the rest and soon stopped at one that had two leather-clad guards standing at attention by the doors armed with spears. A sign at the top read, "GUARD HOUSE" and had a coat of arms of a shield and two swords on either side.

As the group made their way to the doors, the two guards stepped forward and crossed their spears. The one on the right spoke first. "Halt! State yourselves and your business here!"

"I am Abraham, knight and Captain of the Guard. Beside me is Gilbert, my second in command, and two witnesses to a heinous crime. I am here to speak with the local guard captain," Abraham said.

The two guards looked at each other, then they pulled their spears back. "You'll find Captain McKenna towards the back of the building," said the guard on the left. "Don't cause any trouble while you're in there."

With a nod to the guard, Abraham motioned for the group to follow him. They made their way in one by one. Darren was last and when he was going in, one of the guards put a hand up and stopped him.

"Those pets of yours," the guard said with a quick look to Cooper and Declan. "They safe around people?"

"As long as they're with me," Darren said.

The guard stared at the zerglings for a moment then turned to give Darren a hard look. A few moments later he pulled back and waved Darren through along with his zerglings.

The guardhouse was a simple building with the main area on the first floor and what looked like a stairway to the left leading to an underground area. The room was open with tables and chairs spread out haphazardly and towards the back were two doors labeled "CAPTAIN" and "ARMORY". There were many men and women of various ages that seemed to be either going through forms and working or were enjoying their downtime as they ate and drank the day away. With the rain outside, it probably meant there were fewer patrols at the moment.

When the door closed behind the group, all the guards turned to the newcomers and the chatter dimmed. Darren could feel the tension in the air when the guards' attention shifted to his group. The door labeled "CAPTAIN" swung open and a fit-looking man stepped out with chainmail armor.

He was around the same age as Abraham, but not as muscled. The captain had a scar over his left eye that led down to his chin and was bald. He could still be described as handsome though. The most expressive thing about him though, besides the scar, was how he looked at a person. His gaze seemed to judge a person for their worth, regardless of status or achievement. He looked at the new group that had entered, then his gaze quickly went to the guards.

"What is this, the theater!? Stop gawking and get to your own business!" The man's yell broke the tension and the guards ignored Darren's group, more than a few of them were left abashed at the scolding.

Seeing that everything was back to order, the captain nodded and made his way to the group. Abraham met the man halfway with the others trailing along behind him. The captain spoke first with a handshake.

"I'm Captain McKenna, I take care of Chrimata."

Abraham shook the hand. "I am Abraham, a knight." McKenna raised a brow at that.

"If I may ask, what are knights doing around here? It's not every day we see a man like you."

"I will explain everything, but I was wondering if we could have this conversation in a more… private setting," Abraham said as he looked around the room. McKenna seemed understanding and soon led the group to the office at the back.

He let everyone in the room and closed the door behind him. The office was spacious enough for the group to stand comfortably and had a large rug. On the far side was a beautifully carved wooden desk covered in sheaves of paper tied together with string. Just behind it sat a cushioned armchair and a fireplace in the corner kept the room at a warm and comfortable temperature.

McKenna went behind the desk, sat down, and spoke. "So, what was so important that you would rather speak behind closed doors?"

"We believe that one of your men is involved with the local black market presence," Abraham said without a moment's hesitation.

McKenna's eyes went immediately to Abraham's as he shot to his feet. He spoke to the knight with a firm tone bordering on outrage. "That is a bold accusation to make, Knight Abraham." McKenna's eyes narrowed. "My guards may not be the best bunch, but by the gods, you had better have some proof if you're going to accuse my people to my face."

"Of course," Abraham said, "I would not expect a man I just met to believe a word I would say without some form of evidence." The knight captain waved Aenwyn and Darren forward. "This is Aenwyn, she was imprisoned by the local black market presence. Next to her is Darren who freed her and found information regarding one of your guards."

McKenna put his knuckles against the desk's surface and leaned forward with a sigh. After a few moments of calming breaths, the guard captain looked Darren in the eye with a serious expression.

"Tell me everything."

And so, Darren told the man everything that he had seen that night, from the symbol that he had seen to freeing Aenwyn and bringing her to the orphanage. Here, Aenwyn reaffirmed what Darren had done. Partway through Darren's recount, McKenna had sat back down, his elbows were up on the desk, and his hands were clasped together. However, his eyes did not once stray from Darren's for a single moment.

"... and that's about everything I know," Darren finished.

Except for the fireplace that was still cracking in its corner, it was silent in the room. McKenna closed his eyes, took a deep breath, and sighed. He looked at Darren and Aenwyn and said, "What you both went through was terrible and you have my condolences. To make sure though, the name you heard was Noah, correct?"

Darren nodded.

"There was no chance that you may have heard a different name?"

"No sir," Darren said.

McKenna sighed again. "Noah isn't the best guard. In fact, we hear the most complaints about him on any given day. I'm just surprised that this even happened," the captain said. He looked at Abraham and Gilbert. "I'll get on this as soon as possible. For now," McKenna stood up and walked to the door, "please wait here." Without another word, McKenna left the group to their own devices.

"That went well," Darren said, breaking the silence. "Should we wait here, or get back to the inn?"

"You two can go back, we will stay here just in case of any updates," Abraham said, pointing to himself and Gilbert. With a nod to the two knights, Darren and Aenwyn walked out of the office and made their way outside with Cooper and Declan right behind them.

They made their way back to the inn in peaceful silence as the rain poured down on them. Just as Darren was about to say something to Aenwyn, she stopped suddenly. Darren reached out to ask her what was wrong when he felt a ping over the bond with Cooper and Declan warning him about something. Aenwyn grabbed his outstretched arm and started pulling him in a random direction.

As they turned on random corners, Darren used this as a chance to look around the area. His zerglings warned him that something was following them and Aenwyn seemed to have similar thoughts.

"Did you see anyone," Aenwyn asked as they turned on another corner.

"No. Nothing yet," Darren answered.

They continued down a road at an even pace, then Darren pulled Aenwyn towards an alleyway to the right. She complied and they soon found themselves at a dead-end, a wooden wall blocking them. Looking around, Darren spotted some crates halfway in the alley that they could use to hide behind. He waved Aenwyn over to hide as he hunkered down with Cooper and Declan beside him.

They waited for a few minutes in the rain, and when Darren was about to look over the crate, he saw one of Aenwyn's ears twitch. Her eyes narrowed in focus and she gestured to wait. They heard a female voice.

"Where the hell did they go?"

"I thought you said that they went down here," a male accused.

"I did see them go down here! You should've run when I told you to!"

"Whatever. They probably didn't get too far if they're still around here. McKenna's gonna be pissed if we lost them."

Darren and Aenwyn's eyes widened in shock. _What the hell are they talking about,_ Darren thought to himself.

"So, where do we go now that…" the voice petered out as the sound of footsteps receded in the distance.

Darren waited only until when Aenwyn seemed sure that their followers were gone and stood up from their cover. He quickly walked to the alleyway entrance and spotted a pair of guards turning on a corner farther down the road. Darren leaned on the wall near him and felt a tap on his shoulder. He turned to see Aenwyn looking at him slightly distressed as she spoke.

"What do we do?"

**A/N: Poor silly me thought that I would have more time to write now that I'm home all the time. Turns out I have less time.**

**Hope everyone's safe at this time.**


	18. Chapter 18

Darren's feet pounded on the cobblestone road as the rain poured around him. Cooper panted at his side as the zergling ran next to him, his wings fluttering to lift himself up occasionally. As Darren ran, he went over the plan that he and Aenwyn made again.

He would run back to the inn and find Jones and the rest of the knights. Meanwhile, Aenwyn was to get Abraham and Gilbert away from the guardhouse and tell the two what was happening. When Aenwyn brought up how they were supposed to find each other when their tasks were finished, Darren told the elf about his mental connection with the zerglings. They would keep in touch by having Declan follow her, while Cooper went along with Darren. The meeting point would be at Father Timothy's and Matron Abigail's orphanage where they would decide what to do next.

Now, Darren was running down a street that he thought was familiar as he tried to find the inn. He turned down an alley on the left and Cooper galloped behind him. Once he made it out, Darren started looking around himself and soon found the inn. He briskly made his way inside while Cooper stayed outside and started to scan the first floor of the inn for Jones and the rest.

"Ah! Hello sir." Darren turned to the voice and saw the innkeeper walk up to him.

"Hey," Darren replied. "Have you seen the other knights? The others that I came with before. I thought they were here?"

"Yes, they were sir. They just left a moment ago with some of the local guards earlier."

Darren swore under his breath. "Do you know where they went? It's important."

After a moment of thinking, the innkeeper answered. "I believe they are headed to the town's outskirts near the forest. One of them mentioned something about going near the sewers. Maybe they're out to hunt some of the R.O.U.S. or something?"

"What's a…" Darren trailed off then shook his head. "Never mind. You said they were heading out to the forest, right?"

"That's right."

With a nod and a quick thanks to the innkeeper, Darren went back outside into the rain and started to run towards the sewer entrance as Cooper kept pace next to him.

* * *

Aenwyn had made it back to the street where the guardhouse was located with Declan behind her. At the moment she was in an alley with her back to the wall after taking a long run to get here. She took a few deep breaths to calm herself down and made sure that her hood was still up before making her way to the building.

One of the guards spotted her and called out to her. "Oh, hey. It's you again."

"Greetings," Aenwyn said with a nod of her head. "I need to speak with Abraham."

The guards said nothing for a few moments and simply stared at her. She saw the guard on the other side start to grip his spear more tightly. Aenwyn began to feel a buildup of energy within her as she prepared for a fight. Declan began to lower himself to the ground in response and let out a low rumble from his throat.

"Alright," the guard finally said. "They should still be inside. Go on in." The tension drained from Aenwyn as she nodded to the guard and made her way inside.

As she went to the captain's office, she noticed that there were considerably fewer people milling around and that the few that were here were checking on gear and putting it on. A few glanced at her and Declan as they passed, but they didn't stop Aenwyn or Declan.

She opened the door and saw Abraham and Gilbert talking to each other. They looked at her in surprise but schooled themselves quickly when they saw it was Aenwyn with Declan by her side.

"Hello Aenwyn," Abraham said. "I thought you would have been with Darren back at the inn by now."

"That was the plan," Aenwyn replied as she closed the door behind her. "However, we ran into some trouble on the way back." Seeing the raised eyebrows on Abraham and Gilbert, she explained quickly what Darren and she found out.

"So, Chrimata's guards are in cahoots with Serenity," Gilbert growled.

"Or," Abraham started calmly with closed eyes, "we are not seeing the entire picture. First, we find evidence of their guilt, then we act. Not the other way around." Then Abraham's eyes opened with a quiet fury burning in them. "Still, just to be safe, we should work under the assumption that all guards in Chrimata are indeed hostile until further notice." He turned to the desk in McKenna's office and started to look through the papers on it.

Catching on quickly to what he was doing, Aenwyn and Gilbert joined him and started to look through the bundles of papers. After a few minutes of searching through the sheets, there was still nothing that connected the guards to Serenity. Aenwyn went to check through the drawers of the desk until she heard growling.

Aenwyn, Abraham, and Gilbert stopped what they were doing and looked at Declan to see the zergling with his hackles raised as he growled at the door. The elf was about to ask what was wrong when they heard knocking and a voice.

"Knight Abraham, are you there?"

"I am," Abraham responded quickly as the other two started putting the sheaves of paper back into its previously ordered positions. "Is there something that requires my attention?"

"Captain McKenna requested that you and your companions be escorted to his position."

"I see," Abraham said with a raised eyebrow. "And may I know where he is exactly?"

After a moment of silence, the guard answered. "I'm sorry sir, but I'm not at liberty to answer."

While Abraham was trying to gain any information from the guard, Aenwyn was nearly finished with replacing the papers until she spotted an envelope. She was about to put it into the stack when she saw the shape imprinted in the wax seal, one that she had become familiar with recently.

"Anyway sir," the guard continued outside, "we'll leave in a few minutes. Please be ready to join us at that time." They heard footsteps walking away from them.

Once Aenwyn was certain that no one was near the door, she went to Abraham and handed him the letter she found. The knight's eyes narrowed when he saw the symbol stamped on the wax.

A circle with a pointed tip and an 'X' in the middle.

* * *

Darren laid down behind a log and poked his head above it just enough to see over with Cooper following his lead. Just ahead from his position, Darren spotted the squad of knights that he was traveling with including Jones who was near the center of the group where they all sat, arms tied behind them. They were still armored but their weapons were taken from them.

Surrounding the knights were Chrimata guards who outnumbered them about three to one, each with leather armor, in a few cases some had modified pieces with chainmail and equipped with either swords or spears. Some of them had bows and arrows with them as well. They had made sure to pick a part of the forest that had a field in the middle where they could watch the knights and their surroundings better. Of all guards that were guarding the knights, the majority were keeping a loose circle around their hostages while the others scouted the edges of the forest.

Now, Darren had no plan other than "rush and pray for the best" but that could lead to the knights getting hurt, or worse, killed. While he would like to call for more Zerg to back him up, none would get here in time as they were too far away, even with their impressive running speeds. He could have used the Nydus Network to transport his creatures quickly, but that would only happen if Darren knew that the knights could survive whatever debris fell from the resulting rupture the Nydus Worm would cause.

And in an area full of large trees that could potentially fly through the air from an underground explosion, he didn't think that anyone's chances of survival would be too great.

So, Darren took a breath and was about to charge out into the clearing with Cooper at his heels until he looked at the sky. The rain was still going as strong as before, but now it was getting darker. It had gotten late and with everything going by so quickly Darren hadn't noticed that dusk was fast approaching.

He looked at the clearing again and examined where the guards were patrolling. Darren grinned as a plan started to form.

* * *

Jones looked around and started to count the number of people that were guarding them. A short while later, he confirmed that there were still too many of them to take by themselves, just like the last time he counted and the time before that. He hung his head and let out a quiet sigh.

While Jones and the other six were waiting for Uncle Abraham's group to return, a few guards had approached them in the inn. They said that Abraham was expecting them near Chrimata's gates. When they asked why Abraham would want them to meet there, the guards said that they had found those who had turned traitor and needed additional help.

When they had arrived at the gate, they were ambushed by more of Chrimata's guards and forced to surrender. Fast forward a few minutes and they were being marched through the forest until they made it to a field where they were forced to sit. One of the knights had attempted to run earlier and find Abraham but was quickly shot in the back of the leg where there was little armor to protect him. Now, they were just waiting for something.

"When are we getting out of the rain? I'm freezing my ass out here." Jones looked over to one of the guards surrounding them.

"I dunno," another guard said. "Hey, didya hear about that thing with Noah?"

"You mean that fight with McKenna?"

"Yeah that. I know that Noah's his second and all, but wasn't that just going too far?"

"They've been disagreeing on a lot of things lately. I'm just surprised it didn't happen sooner."

"But still…"

Jones stopped listening to them and looked around himself as the sky darkened, dusk soon falling to night with the rain just as heavy. In response to the time of day, a few of the guards started to light lamps that were on their waists. Jones heard one of the guards near him mutter to himself as he stared into the surrounding forest.

"Could've sworn there were a few more of our guys out there."

Jones wondered what the guard was talking about and then looked at where he was staring. _Weird,_ Jones thought to himself. _Wasn't someone standing around there earlier? It's like he just… _

Jones started to scan the forest edges as discreetly as possible without alerting the guards. It looked like the same amount of people as bef-

_What was that?_

His eyes snapped to the left. In the darkness, Jones almost missed it. Just a few seconds ago he saw one of the guards searching through the bushes until he was pulled in.

Jones elbowed the knight next to him and got his attention. Jones motioned to the forest. A few moments passed without anything happening. The knight looked at him questionably and was about to say something when another of the guards disappeared into the surrounding foliage. The knight's eyes widened in understanding and he nodded to Jones.

Jones looked to the forest as word spread around their little group. Something was here and it was taking out the guards. It was just the distraction that they needed and when the moment came to strike, they would take it.

* * *

Darren held the man in a chokehold as he continued to struggle. It took some time, but soon the man's panicked flailing slowed, and he was knocked out. Darren held the chokehold for a few seconds longer to make sure then slowly let go and put the guard down. He looked around the perimeter of the clearing.

The whole point of all this was to get fewer guards surrounding the knights. It was slow going, sneaking around the area and knocking out the guards under the cover of darkness, but so far it seemed to be worth it as none of the other guards had seemed to catch on yet. How long this would last, he didn't know, but he would make the most of it and hopefully take out as many of them as possible before the guards were alerted.

He moved on to the next guard in his sights. Sending Cooper to the guard's other side, Darren waited until the zergling was in position.

_**SNAP**_

At the sound of a branch breaking under the zergling's foot, the guard turned around and looked into the bushes near him leaving his back to Darren. He snuck closer to the unsuspecting victim, and once he was close enough, he pounced.

Darren wrapped his arms around the guard's neck and threw both of them to the ground with Darren laying on top of him. The guard tried to knock Darren off but couldn't find a good angle to do so while belly first on the ground. He struggled for a few more seconds until his breath ran out and he finally stopped moving. Sighing in relief, Darren got off the guard.

"We've got a problem here people!"

Snapping his head around, Darren quickly looked to where the voice was coming from. One of the guards that were watching the knights seemed to notice that their friends in the forest were going missing and decided to investigate. The other guards responded to the man's call and started to gather around him, leaving just a few guards to watch the knights.

It was now or never.

With a burst of speed, Darren sprinted through the forest towards the guards with Cooper just behind him. The guards barely had any time to turn towards the sound of Darren running through the forest before he smashed through them with the force of a cannonball. The cries of the guards alerted the rest in the clearing to Darren's position and they started to converge on him.

Out of the corner of his eye, as he smashed a guard into the ground, Darren could see the captive knights start to fight back. A few kept the guards busy while their fellows started to cut themselves free of their bonds. Darren could see Jones doing the most to help his comrades by being the first to cut the others free of their bonds.

Darren stepped back as a sword came down uncomfortably close to his face. Turning to the guard who swung at him, he kicked his leg out from under him and kicked the guard in the stomach, launching him a few feet back. Another guard attempted to skewer Darren with a spear but missed. In response Darren gripped the spear and pulled the guard towards him, unbalancing the man and then knocked him to the ground with a punch.

Meanwhile, on the side, Cooper had resorted to hit-and-run tactics as he was outnumbered and in an open field. The zergling ran between the guards, knocking them over or finding ways to disable them like a claw to their shins. The guards tried to hit the zergling, but Cooper was too fast for them to hit, let alone maneuver around.

Darren slowly made his way to the knights, punching and kicking guards out of the way while dodging any swings that came his way. Once he made it to the knights, he kicked a guard in the leg and tapped Jones on the shoulder. The young knight almost swung his newly liberated sword at Darren but caught himself before he could harm the man and shouted with relief.

"Darren! It's good to see you!"

"Same here Jones," Darren replied. He dodged a swing from a sword and turned to punch the guard in the stomach, causing him to lean over. Darren finished it with a knee to the face. He heard Jones call to him.

"Have you told my uncle of what's happened?" Jones parried a sword and kicked out, knocking the guard unbalanced and leaving him open for another knight to attack. "I believe something like this would be quite urgent."

"If everything's gone to plan," Darren grunted as he smacked another guard, "then Aenwyn should've met with them already and told him everything. For now, let's finish this!"

"Agreed!"

After a few more minutes of fighting later, the guards were dealt with. Using the rope that had bonded them before, the knights got to work tying 20 beaten guards while Darren kept a lookout, Cooper resting at his feet.

Thankfully, no one was injured too badly. Any hits the knights took were blocked by their armor. Any wounds that were sustained could be healed with a quick trip to a healer and a few days' rest.

At the moment, Darren was wondering how Aenwyn was doing on her end and was hoping for an update. Just as he was going to look through Declan's eyes to get an idea of what was happening, he felt pulse over his mental bond with the zergling. He opened it up and Aenwyn's voice came through.

"_Darren! You need to get to the orphanage! He said he is going to kill them!"_

* * *

-Earlier-

Aenwyn kept her eyes forward as they marched to wherever McKenna was. On her right was Gilbert and on her left was Declan. Abraham marched in front of their small group that was surrounded by Chrimata guards. The rain still poured around them and the sun was soon to set over the horizon.

After Aenwyn had given Abraham the letter with Serenity's stamp on it, the guards that were assigned to them had started to lead the small group to an undisclosed location. Gilbert had wanted to fight back and meet up with the rest of the men, but Abraham convinced his second that fighting now would only hinder them rather than help.

She wondered how Darren was doing on his end.

"Aenwyn, are you well?" She turned to Gilbert, who looked at her worriedly. "You seem troubled," the knight continued.

Aenwyn schooled her features and mentally berated herself. _Never show weakness. _"I am fine Gilbert. There is no need to worry for me," she said, turning to him with a calm expression.

He looked unconvinced but did not push further. "If you say so." Without another word, he turned forward once again.

Aenwyn felt something nudge her left hand and turned to find Declan prodding her with his snout. Feeling the corners of her mouth twitch upwards, she rubbed the top of Declan's head fondly. The zergling looked content and let out a low purr-like sound.

After walking a few more blocks, they stopped and Aenwyn heard the lead guard speak up. "We're here."

They stood in front of a large three-story warehouse. The bottom was made of cobblestone and the walls above were made of wood. The windows were all closed except for the top floor where a pulley system was located. There were lanterns on the sides that were hung and lit.

The lead guard went up to a large pair of doors and rapped on them in three consecutive strikes, then two more. A few moments passed until the doors were opened by another pair of guards from inside. The guards that had marched started to herd Aenwyn, Abraham, Gilbert, and Declan inside. The lead guard scanned the surrounding streets before ordering a pair of guards to stand watch.

Inside the warehouse showed that there were walkways on the upper floors that connected different platforms for more space to store things. It was lit with various lanterns hung from the support columns. In the center of the warehouse stood McKenna and Noah behind a box with various papers. More guards that watched the two had their hands gripping their weapons tightly, some in distress. As the group got closer it became more obvious that McKenna and Noah were arguing about something.

Noah's arms flung up in agitation as he yelled at Mckenna. "You were the one that brought me into this!"

"I needed someone to protect our assets! Not… not… this," McKenna yelled back as he pointed at a map on the box in front of them.

"I am protecting our assets! Gods McKenna, if I weren't such a bleeding heart then-" Noah cut himself off once he spotted the new group.

McKenna turned to see the group as well and addressed Noah once more. "We will speak of this later," he hissed at the man. McKenna, visibly calming himself, turned back to the group of three, plus one zergling. "Thank you for coming at my request Abraham, Gilbert, Aenwyn."

A low growl brought attention to Declan, currently standing near Aenwyn.

"And of course… Declan I believe it was?"

The zergling let out an amused huff.

"Right…" McKenna said uneasily. "Anyway, getting back to the matter at hand, I believe you are wondering why I asked for you here?"

Gilbert was the one to answer him. "We may have an inkling of why."

"Oh?" McKenna raised an eyebrow in the knight's direction. "Do you perhaps suspect that I am connected to the rumored black market?"

Those in the warehouse started. Looking around, Aenwyn deduced that no one, much less McKenna's own guards, was expecting the guard captain to simply state that there was a chance that he and Serenity were connected.

Abraham was the first to get over his shock and spoke to McKenna incredulously. "Are you connected to Serenity?"

"I am."

Noah rounded on McKenna. "By the gods McKenna, what are you-"

"I ask that you hear me out," McKenna said as he cut off Noah, still addressing Abraham. "Then you may judge me."

Silence reigned. The tension in the building was so thick you could cut it with a knife, through the shock from those watching had yet to dissipate. Then Abraham spoke.

"Speak."

With a quick nod, McKenna began. "I'm sure you know about Chrimata's reputation as the 'Coin Purse of Aleria', yes?" Seeing Abraham nod, McKenna continued. "That title was what defined this town for a long while, ever since the founding of Aleria. Goods and services were exchanged in Chrimata as easily as gold flowed through the hands of its people. However, Chrimata was not as peaceful in the past as you see it now."

"This town was once a cesspool of felony. That knowledge though was always pushed aside in favor of the reputation that we were given. As long as the money flowed, the voices of those who suffered went unheard." With his next words, the man seemed to age 10 years.

"When I started as guard captain, I had to bury more good men and women than I ever thought possible, never mind dealing with the repercussions of people who wouldn't care for the guard the slightest bit. I've seen good people drink themselves into depression, others took their own lives because of the stress."

Then McKenna looked at Abraham resolutely. "So, when I saw a chance to make things better, I took it. It may have taken a few decades, but the streets of Chrimata and my guards are safer for it."

"And all it cost was your allegiance to Aleria," Abraham finished gravely.

"If that's what was needed. But what else could I have done, hm," McKenna asked Abraham. "If you had been in my position, would you not want what was best for your men? Could you really turn a blind eye to their suffering?"

Abraham looked at McKenna dead in the eye. "I may be loyal to my men, but my loyalty to Aleria outweighs even that." The knight took in a deep breath then spoke with a commanding tone. "By the authority granted to me by King Indulf and Queen Catherine as Captain of the Guard, Captain McKenna, you are under arrest for high treason."

McKenna sighed. "I hoped it wouldn't come to this, you seem to be a good man." He made a hand signal and the guards around them tensed. Noah looked at McKenna sharply and seemed to be contemplating something as he spoke. "Guards, take them down, alive."

The guards around Aenwyn's group started back them into a corner. Abraham and Gilbert drew their swords and Declan growled as their backs slowly drew closer to the wall behind them. Aenwyn began building up energy as she prepared to fight. However, she knew there were too many guards for their small group to fight off before they were captured. Conventional magic wouldn't help here. She looked around to see if there was anything in the warehouse, they could use to their advantage then she saw one of the windows on the top floor.

It was night.

Looking around again, Aenwyn noticed that even with the lanterns hung around the warehouse it was still dark. She could use that but…

_What will they think if I use it? What if they hate me for it?_

"Abraham, Gilbert," Aenwyn whispered to the men. Seeing that she had their attention, she continued. "I can help us, but I need you to trust me."

Abraham and Gilbert looked at each other for a moment and in moments came to a decision. "Do what you need to," Abraham replied.

With a nod, Aenwyn closed her eyes and focused. Around her, everyone felt a sudden chill and an unnerving sense of dread. The shadows warehouse lengthened, and the light of the building seemed to retreat into its lanterns. Aenwyn felt her surroundings answer her call. Ensuring she had a good grip on her magic, she pulled.

And the shadows exploded.

* * *

If someone was to describe McKenna, they would be hard-pressed to call him lazy. In fact, of all the past guard captains, McKenna would probably be called the most hardworking out of all of them. He made sure that Chrimata's streets were safe, that his guards were well cared for, and the people were happy for that.

Corruption would be the last thing anyone would think about him.

Still though, years of reading report after report of people dying under their watch could and would certainly change a man. When he had received that offer from Serenity to make his town a better place, he accepted. And it worked. Less of his people died and Chrimata overall became a safer place, just as long as he turned a blind eye and had some of his men do the dirty work.

If his younger self saw him now, he would balk at what he had done. But McKenna was old and experienced now. He knew that what he had done was necessary and that if he had to get a little dirty for his people, then it was all worth it. He had planned if things turned for the worst, he was prepared for the fallout.

But nothing could have prepared him for this.

"By the gods, what's that!?"

"I can't hit it! It just goes through!"

"They got Alex!"

His guards were panicking as tendrils made from the shadows themselves had started to grab at them. Whenever someone tried to attack the tendrils, their weapon would go right through and hit nothing but air. Some were unfortunate enough to be caught by the shadows.

One man had tried to shield himself from being bludgeoned but didn't see the tendril near his leg. With a scream of terror, he was thrown into the wall and landed in a broken heap on the floor. McKenna had also seen some of his guards be absorbed by the darkness from the initial explosion. No one knew what happened to them, but nobody was positive about their survival.

The situation was lost. He needed to regain control. He opened his mouth to order a retreat and regroup.

_**SHLICK**_

He felt something slip through his armor on his side. Then he was hit with burning pain. Turning to look, he saw a dagger and a hand. Following the arm, he saw Noah hold him up with a look of disgust. Noah pulled him close and whispered into his ear.

"I tried to make you see my side of things and be better, but I never imagined you could be such a weak, old man. I guess we're just never what we seem, are we?"

McKenna struggled to say anything through the pain induced haze, but only managed a soft wheeze. Noah's look of disgust turned to indifference.

"Goodbye, McKenna."

Twisting the dagger, Noah roughly pulled it out. McKenna felt himself fall to the floor as Noah let go of him. His last thought was of regret.

Then, he knew nothing at all.

* * *

She felt cold.

So dreadfully cold.

But at least there was something to distract her from that. She had to keep these people away from the others. If she didn't, then… then…

_Who were they again?_

She knew that she had to help them and that the others trying to attack them were bad, but who were they again? It was hard to remember, and everyone's yelling wasn't helping much either. She reached out and bound them, but they just got louder.

She squeezed until they finally went quiet.

_Much better,_ she thought to herself.

She saw some of the others run out of the building being led by a man with a bloody dagger. He was shouting something about needing his men and an orphanage and something called Serenity, but he was leaving so that was fine. Just as long as they didn't bother her, everything was fine.

Now all she had to do was…

Strange, she couldn't remember.

_Oh well. It probably didn't matter too much._

Anyway, the other two that were near her were starting to get on her nerves with their yapping. She'd deal with them soon. Then maybe, she could remember what was going on. So, she lifted a hand and was about to silence them but felt something brush by her leg. She looked down; her head tilted in confusion at what she was seeing.

Some strange creature was staring up at her with worry. The longer she looked at it, the more she had a growing feeling of familiarity to it. She knew this creature from somewhere. It was important for some reason. She remembered it had a name.

_This thing is… Declan. And he belongs to… to… Darren?_

Then it all came back to her. Chrimata, the dungeon, the slavers, the guards, Abraham, Gilbert, Cooper and Declan, Darren, the shadows.

_The shadows!_

Her eyes widened in alarm as she realized what she was doing. She focused on the shadows around her. She felt the connection and the energy she was feeding into her magic. She cut it.

Opening her eyes she saw the shadows begin to recede and give way to the light from the lanterns. She brought her hands to her mouth in horror and let out a gasp.

Surrounding her were the broken and bleeding bodies of men and women. Some had cuts all over them while others looked like broken parodies of themselves, twisted beyond their natural limits. But what was common between them was the looks of fear each had on their faces.

"Aenwyn."

Startled, she turned around. Behind her were Abraham and Gilbert, both staring at her, though Abraham was doing a better job of hiding his panic. He had sheathed his sword and kept both hands up as if he was trying to calm a wild beast. Gilbert's sword was still out as he looked at Aenwyn with caution.

"Aenwyn," Abraham started again. She looked at him. "What was that?"

"It… I was…" Aenwyn tried to speak but couldn't say anything in her shock. She felt Declan press his snout into her side trying to comfort her.

Realizing that he wouldn't get an answer now, Abraham just sighed and looked around the room. His gaze darkened as he took in the bodies. He looked at Aenwyn.

She had taken to petting Declan at the moment as the zergling sat in front of her, but it seemed to be an unconscious movement. She was staring at the bodies with a listless gaze, seemingly drained of life as she stood there.

He tried to get her attention. "Aenwyn." She turned to him. "Did you hear anything when the other guards left? I thought I did but the sound in the… darkness was muffled."

Aenwyn looked thoughtful and went over the memories when she was under the influence of her magic. Then she remembered seeing Noah leave. She remembered what he said.

She panicked for a moment, wondering what she was going to do, then she remembered what Darren had said earlier. His connection with his zerglings. She looked at Declan, bringing herself to her knees and staring into the zergling's eyes.

_I hope this works._

"Declan," she started, "I need to speak with Darren."

She wasn't positive that the zergling fully understood her, but when he nodded, and his eyes started to glow she decided to go for it.

"Darren! You need to get to the orphanage! He said he is going to kill them!"

**A/N: Just in time for the one-year anniversary of this story. Woop!**

**Also, I've been experimenting with a few things here so I'd like to hear any sort of feedback you guys could give me.**

**P.S.: I added in a few easter eggs (i.e. R.O.U.S. and the Alex callout). Props to anyone who knows what those are.**


	19. Chapter 19

_I've been doing a lot of running lately… I really hope this doesn't become a thing._

Darren vaulted over a log and ran, again, through the forest as he tried to find his way back to the road. Beside him, Cooper kept pace beside him as they weaved through the trees. Thanks to their night vision the two had little trouble navigating the forest.

After Aenwyn had given him her message and explained what she meant by it, Darren had immediately started sprinting for the road that led to Chrimata, leaving behind Jones and the knights. Once he made it to the road, he would follow the path that Elizabeth showed him back to the orphanage.

He just hoped he would get there in time.

Darren dashed through the forest and pushed through a mound of bushes in his path, Cooper following suit. He looked around and realized that he was close to the beaten path. A quick jog forward brought him to the road that led to Chrimata. Panting slightly from exerting himself for a while, Darren started to look around and get a bearing of his surroundings when he noticed some light in the distance.

_Weird_, Darren thought, _the sun shouldn't be coming up anytime soon. And isn't that in the direction of… the…_

He wasn't sure when he started moving, but when his mind caught up with his body Darren realized he had been sprinting in the direction of the light. He barreled on through the forest, knocking any obstacles out of the way without slowing. Cooper was behind him but was slowly being left behind due to Darren's unyielding speed.

As he got closer, Darren could hear fighting, metal squealing against metal, and people yelling in pain. The light was shining brighter as he ran through the trees. Hot air pushed against Darren as he got closer to the source of the light. He could smell something permeate in the air as he ran forwards.

A smell of ash and blood.

Coming up to the edge of the forest, Darren burst through and took a moment to catch his breath as he stood there. His eyes widened in shock behind his helmet as he examined the situation in front of him.

The home that was once the orphanage was now nothing more than a raging bonfire of a building. Tongues of flame licked at the walls and burnt the wood. Windows were shattered from the intense heat and the deteriorating supports groaned under the weight of the building. The heat itself seemed alive and pulsed every few seconds, bringing a new wave of intense pressure with every beat.

In front of the building were Noah and a group of his men. They were dressed similarly as Chrimata's guards and had the same arms. The thing that Darren noticed though was that while most were battle-ready a fair few were on the ground, unconscious or dead he didn't know. There was also some cloaked figure standing next to Noah paying attention to the fire, but he seemed unimportant now.

And in between the burning building and Noah's group stood Timothy, along with Abigail and Elizabeth behind him, who were huddled protectively near the kids. Darren's eye was then drawn to Timothy, or rather, what he was wearing.

Instead of clergy robes, Timothy was clad in a large set of old armor. His torso was covered by a plate cuirass made of segmented pieces over chainmail. Metal pauldrons covering his shoulders added to Timothy's already broad frame which led to his arms and hands which were covered by large segmented plates. Greaves and boots made of the same metal protected Timothy's legs and feet. A white cloth tabard with red trim ran down his middle and back with a silver cross embroidered in it. He had no helmet, but that only added to Timothy's imposing presence when one could see his now stern visage.

In his hands, he carried the largest war hammer Darren had ever seen. Standing at least five feet tall, the large block-like head of the hammer was double-sided with silver crosses engraved along the length. It seemed well cared for as well as the leather grips that were bound around the wooden haft. With his armor and weapon in hand, along with the fire blazing behind him, Timothy pulled off the look of a shining cleric ready for war.

_Or at least,_ _he _would_ be shining, if it wasn't for all the blood on him_, Darren thought to himself.

Timothy's armor was bloodied as well as his weapon. Luckily, none of it seemed to be his. The large man didn't even seem winded from exerting himself and it looked like he could continue fighting for as long as he needed. There was just one problem though.

He was outmanned.

Every time Timothy tried to focus on an opponent, another would get to his blind spot and move closer to the group he was trying to defend. This in turn led to him backing up in an effort to stop it which had the defenseless group back up closer to the burning building. There was only one way and one way only that this standoff was going to end if the group had to keep backing away from Noah's men. Timothy knew it, Noah knew it. They all knew it.

Good thing then, that Darren wasn't going to let that happen.

Darren ran towards Noah's group from behind them. Without stopping for a second, he punched one of the men in the back of the head and continued to run hitting anyone in his way. Cooper followed his master's example by slicing at the legs of anyone he passed.

The resulting noise pulled the attention of the guards in the front near Timothy and the orphans. Not letting the opportunity go by, Timothy capitalized on the moment of confusion and started swinging.

His first swing hit a guard on his back and sent the man flying. The next one clipped another guard on the side and made him tumble to the ground. Timothy made for an overhead swing.

_**BOOM**_

The swing missed hitting anyone, but it cracked the earth where it fell and left a large imprint.

The guards backed off, fearing for their lives, but Timothy wouldn't let them run away. Not after what they tried to do. With a quiet but righteous fury, Timothy charged into the fray.

* * *

Noah was starting to panic.

His men were disoriented and confused as they started getting attacked on two fronts. They had initially come to the orphanage expecting an easy fight. It even started out well enough when the man Noah brought along had started burning the building. Then the cleric burst out of the building in full plate armor with the kids and women behind him.

It was a bit of a problem trying to corral their victims, they had lost a few people in the process, but it was worth it. They were able to force the cleric and his flock back against the fire. A few more pushes and they could put all this behind them with no one the wiser of their actions.

He could taste the gold and recognition that he so rightfully deserved after working under that bastard McKenna for so long.

At least, that was the working plan until a commotion from the back was heard. The next thing he knew, the damned cleric was swinging his war hammer around while they were losing men at the back of their formation.

It should have been easy. All they had to do was kill a few kids, maybe have some fun with the two women who worked here, and head home. Hell, the Rogue Magi that was loaned to him in goodwill from Serenity was making things go faster than he would've thought.

_If you want something done right… _Noah thought as his earlier panic turned to irritation.

"Deal with the guy and his pet behind us," Noah said to the cloaked figure next to him. "You wanted a chance to prove yourself to Serenity? This is it."

The figure nodded. He pulled his hood down to reveal a mop of brown hair and unassuming features as he made his way to the back of the group. The most distinctive feature on him was a black tattoo of Serenity's symbol on the side of his neck.

Turning back to the front, Noah started to rally the guards around him. "A bag of gold to the man who kills the big bastard! And if I see anyone slacking off, then you'll answer to me!"

* * *

_**SMACK**_

Darren punched a guard in the face and saw the body fall with enough force to bounce off the ground.

_**SCRAPE**_

The blade of a sword slid down the hard carapace on his arm.

_**FWIP**_

A hydralisk spine was thrown into someone's throat.

_**SHLICK**_

Tendons severed as Cooper's claws lashed out.

Before, when Darren went to help Jones and the knights, he tried to neutralize the guards as non-lethally as possible since they took the knights prisoner rather than kill them. These people were different though. They tried to kill children and willingly followed the man who killed McKenna. Darren may not have agreed with the choices McKenna made, but at least his intentions were good.

Dodging to the side as a spear attempted to gore him, Darren used his hands to bat it away and then moved into the guard's space. With a quick swipe of his claws, Darren cut through the armor and into the guard's flesh. He went from person to person, not really having a plan beyond dealing with each guard he came across.

Darren went for the next one only to stop when he felt his Zerg instincts _scream_ at him to move. He dropped down as quickly as possible as a fireball flew over his head and hit the ground in front of him. The guards that surrounded him started to back away and went to regroup with the others, leaving Darren alone.

Darren turned around to see a man in a dark red cloak with Serenity's symbol tattooed on his neck. The man's right hand was stretched outward towards Darren while his left had a flame resting in his palm.

The Magi's eyes were narrowed in thought as he looked at Darren. With a wave of his hand, he pulled the fire from his left as if it was a ball of yarn and directed a large stream of fire towards Darren. Rolling to the side, Darren got back to his feet and rushed the Magi.

The Magi backed up slowly and conjured more flames around himself in response. With a wave of his arm, the Magi made the flames shoot towards Darren in rapid succession. Darren dodged to the best of his ability as he ran towards the red-cloaked Magi, but then he saw one of the flames headed towards his face. He brought up his arms to protect himself.

_MISTAKE! MISTAKE! MISTAKE!_

Instead of the flames washing over his armored arms harmlessly as Darren expected, he felt searing heat spread across his arm. The flames washed over him and burned his body as he ran forward, making him stumble.

_What the hell was that!?_ This was the first time that Darren had felt pain, _real_ pain, since waking up in Aleria. The only thing that came close was the Alpha Rock Eater from Counter, and even then, it was more of an inconvenience than anything.

Before Darren could think about the implications of magic hurting him, he saw the Magi weaving fire around his arms. After hesitating for a moment, Darren shook off his confusion and sprinted for the Magi, this time with more caution. The Magi saw this and prepared to wield more fire against Darren.

"SCREEEE!"

That was until a blood-soaked Cooper blindsided the Magi with a tackle.

Startled by the zergling, the Magi flailed around and lost his concentration on his magic making the fire coiled around himself disperse harmlessly. The Magi redirected his attention to Cooper and moved to use his magic against him. Darren saw his chance to strike and took it.

With a few more steps, Darren made it into reaching distance. The Magi saw him and turned to retaliate but was too late to stop him. Darren threw a punch into the Magi's stomach making the man bend over in pain. He brought up both hands together and slammed the Magi to the ground. The Magi tried to get back up and turned to look at Darren, but a quick kick with Darren's heel to the Magi's temple brought him down for good. A quick pat of thanks to Cooper's head and Darren looked at how Timothy was holding up.

"I will make you regret your transgressions!"

_**SLAM**_

"ARGHH!"

"How the hell isn't he dead!?"

"Kill him already you idiots!"

He seemed fine.

Turning his attention to Noah, Darren's eyes narrowed to a glare behind his helmet. The man looked like he was trying to lead the guards to kill or pass Timothy. It was just too bad that he was such a poor leader. His version of "leading" involved throwing threats around at anyone he saw. He also made no attempts to go after Timothy himself and, if he got close or was pushed near Timothy, he would try to distance himself from the cleric with more bodies.

That didn't mean that Noah wasn't a threat though.

Sure, he may be a bully and a coward if his actions were anything to go by, but he was also in a position of power. And if there was anyone that had the potential to be dangerous, it would be a capable coward who had power with ambitions to be even more powerful. Noah had to be stopped before he had the chance to grow into something more.

_Besides_, Darren thought to himself, _what kind of person burns down an orphanage?_ With that in mind, Darren made his way to Noah.

* * *

Things were not going to plan for Noah.

Having all these people go against one man shouldn't have been too difficult, even without the help of a Rogue Magi. Hell, he was starting to think that he made the wrong decision when he sent the Rogue Magi to kill whoever was behind them in the first place.

Still, he had his own problem to deal with at the moment and he would be damned if he couldn't do this one small thing. He looked at the guards around him with disdain.

These were like-minded people who also didn't agree with McKenna's policies of only getting the scraps to get by in the world. They wanted more and they were willing to do whatever they needed to get it. Everyone here knew that Noah was top dog now and if anyone wanted anything in Chrimata, they would have to go to him first.

It was infuriating that they couldn't kill one man though and Noah was starting to rethink who he would keep in his good graces after this thing was over.

"Hurry up and kill him already!" Noah yelled.

"Bu-But he's taking us out when we get to him," one of the guards blubbered.

Noah grabbed the guard by his collar and dragged him to his glaring eyes. "And if you can't do this one thing, then what good are you to me!?" Noah threw that man to the front before he had a chance to respond. "If he isn't dead in the next few minutes, then heads will roll!" He watched as the other guards around him started to slowly inch their way to the front, though many were still wary. "Idiots," Noah muttered under his breath.

From what Noah could see, the large cleric was starting to slow down as he kept fighting. It made sense as the armor he was wearing was large and bulky, along with the fact that he seemed out of practice. Still, he was worried about how well the man fought the guards. A fighter like him should be well known, even more so if one considered the kind of armor and weapon he had. It bothered Noah that he knew next to nothing about this cleric.

"Sir!"

Noah turned around and glared at whoever was disturbing him. "What now?" he growled.

_**FWIP**_

The guard went to say something but went wide-eyed and made sudden choking sounds. Growing impatient with the man, Noah went to shake an answer out of him when his eyes rolled into the back of his head. The guard fell in a boneless heap at Noah's feet, dead as evidenced by the sharp spine in the back of his neck.

Noah looked up and saw the damned bastard and his pet who interrupted him earlier. The man's arm was being pulled back from its outstretched position and the creature next to him was growling. Looking around quickly, Noah cursed under his breath when he saw the Rouge Magi laying face down on the ground unconscious.

Before he could call for reinforcements, the blood-covered creature next to the man moved in an explosion of speed. Faster than he could see, the creature had already sliced deeply into the neck of a guard near him and continued to kill anyone else while moving erratically. The creature's master however walked slowly.

A guard tried to get a swing in, but the armored man dodged the sword and retaliated with a slash of his claws. Another went for the man's legs but was unprepared for the kick that launched him a fair distance away. One guard was fed up with weapons and tried to push the man in the face. A hand caught the swing and squeezed roughly, bringing the guard to their knees. A haymaker brought the guard down for the count. Throughout all of this though, the armored man never looked away from his target.

Noah.

Feeling an impending sense of doom as he continued to lose guards, Noah babbled out orders. "Ki-K-Kill him!" he shouted at his men, panicked out of his mind. "Kill that monster!"

_This shouldn't be happening!_ Noah desperately thought to himself.

A spear broke against black armor.

_I climbed out of the gutter and made a place for myself!_

A guard's legs were cut from under them.

_I was going to get the respect I deserved!_

The crunch of bone echoed behind him.

"You can't do this to me!" Noah cried out. He shuffled backward and tripped onto his backside as the monster of a man came closer. "I worked too hard to be stopped now!" A black hand grabbed his leather armor and lifted him up. Noah kicked the air and desperately scrabbled at the hand, trying to dislodge himself. "You can't kill me!" Noah yelled. His eyes glinted with a dangerous edge as he reached for his back. "And I won't let you!"

As fast as he could, he pulled out a dagger, the same one Noah used to kill McKenna, and stabbed it into the man's left shoulder. The effects were instantaneous. The eudium dagger cut into the armor like butter and sapped the man's strength, making him drop Noah as he staggered backward and fell to his knees.

He let out a laugh of relief. "Yo-You're a Magi, aren't you?" Noah shakily stood back on his feet and walked towards the downed form. "Only Magi act like that when it comes to eudium, and I got you. I'm going to enjoy tearing you…" Noah paused as he took in the armor, some part of him recognized the make of it. His eyes widened as he remembered where he saw it. "You were at the town center," he said gaping in shock. Then he grinned and brought himself to the man's face. "This is going to be so much sweeter than I thought. You should've taken me down when we first met because I'm going to show you why you don't mess with me! I'm going to make you wish you killed me when you had the chance! I'm going to-GURK!"

Noah choked as the man's right arm flashed out and gripped his throat. He watched, panicking, as the man's armored head lifted up to stare him dead in the eye. Without looking away from him, the man used his left arm and slowly pulled out the eudium dagger lodged in his shoulder, dropping it on the ground. He stood up and lifted Noah above the ground again and he started to clench his hand around his throat. In a tired voice, the armored man spoke.

"You talk too much."

He threw Noah to the ground, hard. Noah squeezed his eyes shut in pain and gasped as the air left his lungs. Opening his eyes, he saw a black armored boot hover above his head. He yelled out a plea as the boot came down.

"Wai-!"

_**CRUNCH**_

* * *

Darren stepped back from the mess that was Noah's head, then he fell backward, nearly spread-eagle onto the ground. Darren gulped huge lungfuls of air as he tried to recover from what he had done. Someone in his position would probably be disgusted by the fact that he had crushed someone's skull, and he was, but the dagger was what affected him more.

He could still remember the feeling of the dagger slide so easily between his armor and flesh like it was nothing. The pain that hit him along with the feeling that he was being drained away from that one point in his body. But the most damning thing was that he could feel the connection with his Swarm nearly fizzle to nothing. Sure, he could still feel his Swarm at the edges of his mind, but the connection didn't have the power of command behind it.

It scared him to his core when it happened.

Thankfully, even with the eudium dagger stuck in his shoulder, Darren forced whatever vestiges of strength had left to force himself back up. Pulling the dagger out was torturous and he nearly passed out from doing it, but it was worth it when he felt the connection with his Swarm snap back into full power. At that point, Darren didn't care for what Noah had to say and he decided to just end it.

Now, Darren was tired and just wanted to sleep, but he still needed to know what was happening. With a groan of protest, he lifted his head and looked around the area.

The place was littered with the bodies of unconscious, dead, and dying guards. Cooper, blood-soaked from the fighting, was prowling the area and growled whenever he saw a body twitch. The firepit that was the orphanage had dwindled down to less of a danger. Elizabeth was fretting on the kids for burns and making sure that no one was harmed during the fighting. Then he saw Timothy and Abigail walking towards him. Sighing in resignation at whatever was coming, Darren slowly got up to meet the two while his body yelled at him to stop moving.

"Darren," Timothy said with a small smile. "It's good to see you."

"Same here Timothy, Abigail," Darren said with a nod to each of them.

"Are you hurt, Darren?" Abigail asked. "I can help if you need it."

"It doesn't hurt too much." That was a lie. He felt like he was going to fall over any second now.

"Please," Abigail said, waving off the denial. "It's the least I could do for you helping us."

Without another word, Abigail walked up to Darren and put her hands up to his wounded shoulder. She closed her eyes in concentration and in a few moments her hands began to emit an ethereal light. Darren was confused for a moment but then realized that he was starting to feel better, much better. Looking at his shoulder wound, Darren realized, with no little amount of surprise, that it was the_ light_ that was giving him the soothing feeling. He watched as his flesh started to heal in front of him at a rapid pace, though he made sure to move away before his wound was healed all the way. His armor was biological after all.

At Abigail's displeased frown, Darren said, "It's alright Abigail, I'm fine now. See?" Darren started moving his shoulder without trouble to prove his point.

Abigail still frowned, probably still wanting to check more thoroughly, but she relented with a nod.

"Still," Darren said with a slight grin, "I never took you for a Restoration Magi. I thought you were going to give me some bandages or something. Thanks for that."

Abigail shook her head with a sigh then smiled at him. "You're welcome."

"Darren," started Timothy with a serious look on his face, "next time, try to avoid being hit like that. I've seen far too many good people die due to small mistakes in my lifetime and I'd rather that you not be one of them."

Darren winced with a nod of assent. He'd also rather avoid having any more injuries, especially any that involved eudium.

Timothy's look lightened but then turned to a look Darren couldn't quite place. "Also, while I can't thank you enough for coming to aid us, how did you know to come here? I can't help but think that you knew something about what happened here."

As Darren went to explain the events that led up to this moment, he felt a prodding at his consciousness then heard some footsteps behind him. He turned around, ready to face a possible threat, but was knocked off his feet by a tackle. Before he could get his bearings or wonder why Cooper didn't warn him, he felt a wet appendage journey across his face. Darren looked up to see Declan panting at him with a look of excitement on the zergling's face.

"Darren!"

Moving the zergling off of him, Darren stood up just in time for Aenwyn to start looking over him in worry. Abraham and Gilbert caught up moments later at a more sedated pace.

"Are you unharmed?" Aenwyn asked, concerned for Darren. "We came as fast as we could," she said quickly while looking around the area. "But it seems that you have this handled."

Darren smiled at her. "Yeah, everything's fine here. Thanks for worrying." He frowned for a moment as he looked over her as well. She seemed troubled by something and was somewhat anxious. "Are you alright though? You look…"

"I am also unharmed," Aenwyn said quickly as she stepped back. "There is nothing wrong with me."

Darren was unconvinced, but he didn't push it. Instead, he turned to Abraham and Gilbert who were explaining to Timothy and Abigail what they knew. There was a frown slowly growing on Timothy's face the more Abraham spoke, but Abigail's presence seemed to calm the large cleric.

_Hopefully, this all goes well_, Darren thought to himself. Then he turned to the unconscious Magi that attacked him earlier. _And maybe he knows more about Serenity if the tattoo's anything to go by. _

**A/N: Hope this makes people happy, an action-filled chapter seemed like the right thing to put here.**

**This one really didn't want to be written, but I got it out. Just in time for summer school to start too.**

**Damn it.**


	20. Chapter 20

Opening the door to his room, Darren let Cooper and Declan in before shutting it closed behind him. While taking off his helmet and placing it on the table, he walked over to the bed and flopped onto it face first without hesitation. It had been a very tiring day and it pained Darren just thinking about all the things that had happened.

First, there were the guards stalking them. Next, the knights were captured. Aenwyn apparently had to do something on her end that made Abraham and Gilbert wary of her, though they hadn't explained what yet. Then the orphanage burned down on top of that, something that Timothy and Abigail were less than pleased about. Thankfully the two had a plan just in case something like this happened, so they would be fine.

"And now we have some guy who tried to kill me trapped in the basement," Darren said to himself quietly. "What a mess." Now he was just hoping to get some rest in before something inevitably pulled him away into something else.

_**KNOCK KNOCK**_

"Darren?" Aenwyn's voice said through the door. "Are you there? I would like to speak with you."

Holding back a groan, Darren called out that the door was open. He flipped onto his back and sat up as Aenwyn started to close the door. As she turned, Darren could immediately tell from looking at her that something was wrong. She looked slightly disheveled and was leaning from one foot to the other. Instead of a small smile or calm expression on Aenwyn's face that Darren had come to associate with her, Aenwyn's mouth was pressed into a thin line while she started at a wall.

"Abraham has been… questioning the Rogue Magi for information," Aenwyn said slowly. "He believes that what he has discovered must be brought as soon as possible to the human capital, Vasilikos. He wishes to leave some of his men here so that we may travel briskly and to add security to Chrimata until a more suitable plan is made."

"Sounds like we're leaving soon then."

"Correct."

After that Aenwyn stood silently. Moving to the table and taking a seat, Darren saw that Aenwyn's eyes seemed to cloud over as she stayed deep in thought. Cooper and Declan opted to lay down at his feet.

"Are you alright?" Darren asked cautiously.

Aenwyn froze, then her eyes shot to his in surprise. To Darren, it looked like Aenwyn forgot that he was still there in the room.

"I…" Aenwyn trailed off uncertainty. "No," she finally said with a shake of her head, walking to the table and taking the seat across from Darren. "I do not believe I am."

"Okay, what's wrong?"

Minutes passed as the silence stretched out between them. Darren wanted to ask again or maybe steer the conversation to a safer topic just to fill the silence, but something told him to wait. His patience paid off as Aenwyn looked up from the table and into his eyes.

"You are aware that there were… complications after my meeting with Abraham and Gilbert, yes?" Aenwyn said, uncertainty coloring her tone.

"That's right," Darren replied with a nod.

"And I believe you have seen the way Abraham and Gilbert react around me now?"

Darren nodded again.

Aenwyn began to grimace. "Have they told you what happened?"

"No," Darren said with a frown. At Aenwyn's shocked look he began to elaborate. "I mean, I know something's wrong but I'm not sure what. Did something happen to you?" Darren asked in worry.

The shock changed to relief as Aenwyn gave a small smile. "No, it is more complicated than that." Leaning forward slightly she continued. "Before we speak of that though, let us speak of you. From what I know, you are a Summoning Magi with very little formal training since you did not know of what eudium was until I explained it, correct?"

"Try no formal training instead," Darren sighed. "I only found out what I was after a summoning in the forest near Counter Village."

It technically wasn't a lie, he did summon his Zerg after all, though he did feel somewhat bad for obscuring the truth about what he was. Still, Darren figured that once he had a better handle of things, he would tell the truth of the Zerg's true origins and what he was. For now, people were free to assume that he was a Magi.

"I see." Aenwyn clasped her hands together and placed them under her chin with her elbows on the table. "This will make things both easier and harder than," she said with a calculating look.

"What do you mean?"

"You have no foundation for your magical knowledge beyond your summoning and it takes a practiced Summoning Magi their entire life on average to perfect the spell. However, this also means you will be more open to new ideas of how to practice your craft beyond what a normal human institution may offer," she said excitedly. Then Aenwyn paused for a moment and looked off to the side. "At least… I hope you will do me the honor of teaching you what little I know."

Darren smirked. "Learning from you, the best Magi that I have the privilege of knowing? I'd appreciate whatever time you'd put into me."

Aenwyn smiled happily at him and Darren was happy that he got her to do so. But then her smile turned sad and somewhat bittersweet.

"Thank you for your kind words, but now is the time I should explain myself." She opened her mouth to continue, but Darren raised a hand to stop her.

"I can wait you know," Darren said with a solemn look. "If you don't feel comfortable with telling me…"

Aenwyn's smile was still sad, but it lessened as Darren trailed off. "I will be fine," the elf reassured Darren. "Furthermore, my explanation of what I am may help with your understanding of what magic is."

Darren still seemed unsure of it, but he nodded his head and got comfortable.

"First," Aenwyn started with a neutral expression, "let me explain the collective agreement on how magic works. Magic is, to what our scholars can determine, latent energy that is reserved in one's body. Every being, from animals, elves, humans, dwarves, even Wildlings, have the capacity to wield that energy to their will. What determines who can be called a Magi though is dependent on how large their reserves of energy are."

"For example," Aenwyn continued, "a person with very little potential to become a Magi would only be able to create small sparks, like so." With a wave of her hand, small embers of flame sprang from her palm but died seconds later. "With larger energy reserves, one could use magic in a far more versatile manner than a simple distraction. That being said, never underestimate the danger of another Magi, even if they seem to be a small threat against you."

"Yeah, I kind of learned that the hard way," Darren said with a chuckle as he remembered about the Rogue Magi's flames.

Aenwyn smirked then schooled her features. "Those with small reserves of energy typically choose Conjuration magic while the ones with larger reserves choose either the Restoration or Summoning schools instead. However, it is not uncommon to see those with large reserves choose to join the school of Conjuration either. That school offers versatility and a quick path to power. Restoration may be the school of Magi dedicated to healing, but it is often filled with those having less than noble intentions."

"And Summoning?" Darren asked when Aenwyn paused.

"Summoning is…" Aenwyn took a moment to think. "Summoning is complicated. While the Magi that join the school of Summoning are praised for the simple fact that they can summon creatures from different realms, there is a controversy surrounding them. Summoning magic is relatively new and is not understood too well as a result. Also, while Summoning Magi may be praised, they also have the lowest amount in terms of earnings. This is also due to the fact that Summoning magic is rather new."

"So Summoning magic is new and not very profitable?" Darren asked Aenwyn. Seeing her nod he asked, "What makes it so controversial then?"

Here, Aenwyn began to hesitate. Darren said nothing and made no moves to hurry her. After a few moments, Aenwyn looked at him tentatively.

"Have you heard of Shadow magic?" Aenwyn asked him.

"Should I have?"

"No, I suppose not." Aenwyn attempted to settle herself before continuing. "Allow me to explain then. Shadow magic is possibly one of the Magi community's most well-kept secrets. When it was discovered it was first classified as another branch of Conjuration magic, but soon it was pushed into its own school of magic due to what it could do. A majority if not all of Shadow magic abilities are considered strange to outright… disturbing. Shadow manipulation, raising the dead, leech-like healing, all those could all be explained, but the one thing that made Shadow magic infamous were the effects they would have on its host. At first, the user will experience bouts of forgetfulness as well as chilling. Next, there will be signs of increased aggression and agitation. Finally, if the user is not stopped or reasoned with, they proceed to lose themselves."

Darren was skeptical about what he was hearing. Magic that could take over someone's mind? It sounded fantastical, even for this place. Apparently though, Darren's skepticism was showing on his face if the now exasperated expression Aenwyn wore was anything to go by.

"Yes, it sounds strange, magic with the capacity to corrupt its user to any degree," Aenwyn said, confirming Darren's unsaid question. "But there is evidence of the more well-known stories about Shadow magic that help identify certain key traits about Shadow magic users. After confirming each account, these traits of potential Shadow magic users have been seen without fail, most of which can be seen at birth."

The elven woman glared at her hands for a moment before sighing as she looked at Darren dead in the eyes. They looked angry, but also sad. "Paleness in pigmentation for skin and hair, red to purple coloration in the eyes," Aenwyn's hands shuddered then just as quickly as it happened, stopped. "There are a few more things, but the appearance is the largest confirming factor."

She stopped and Darren was about to speak up until he noticed his surroundings. The various lights around the room seemed to be getting weaker. The shadows in the corners were darkening and beginning to pool in one spot.

Aenwyn.

Darren went to say something but was beaten to the punch. Declan, untroubled by the growing shadows around them, went over to Aenwyn and placed his head on her lap. The touch shocked Aenwyn out of whatever dark thoughts had infected her mind and she gasped as she saw the shadows around them. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath, calming herself. Darren watched as the shadows started to pull away from them.

"Well," Darren started making Aenwyn jolt in her seat, "that was something."

"I-I," Aenwyn stuttered out before quieting. She made to stand up and leave but was stopped by Declan's head pressing down on her lap. Cooper went over and sat on her feet, trapping the elf further to her seat.

"You don't have to leave, you know," Darren assured.

"It would be best if I did," Aenwyn said quietly. "In fact, it may be best if I am separated from the rest of the group for their safety."

"Okay, that's going a bit far." Darren stood and moved his chair so that he could sit next to Aenwyn. "Distancing yourself isn't going to do anyone any good. I get that you're worried, but if you try to separate yourself from everyone else then they're going to be worried about you. Hell, I'm worried about you already."

Aenwyn turned to glare at him. "You do not understand," she said heatedly. "I have enjoyed what little time we have spent together, believe me, but I am a danger to anyone I meet. From what is known, Shadow magic has the potential to destroy large areas of land, possible kingdoms if left unchecked."

Darren raised an eyebrow. "And I have the potential to make an invasion force within a week along with reinforcements to spare if I wanted to."

Aenwyn blinked. "What?"

"If there's one thing you need to know about me," Darren said with a grin, "it's that Cooper and Declan aren't the only ones I brought into this world." The two aforementioned zerglings purred in response.

Darren sighed and scratched the back of his head. "Stopping yourself from forming relationships is detrimental, Aenwyn. And I know this sounds repetitive, but if you're going to distance yourself from us then you're going to make us worried about you. This might sound cheesy, but even if you don't feel like it, you can rely on me. I'll do whatever you need to help. Besides, isn't that what friends are for?"

"Friends?" Aenwyn asked in surprise.

Darren's cheeks flushed with embarrassment at her question. "I-I mean, I don't want to assume but I'd say we're good enough to be friends. Right?"

It started with a chuckle, then it evolved into full-blown laughter as Aenwyn hugged herself in her fit. Darren's cheeks burned even brighter, but he smiled through his embarrassment as the previous tension dissipated. Seeing her happy was miles better than the dour expression she had before. Eventually, Aenwyn calmed down enough with only a few giggles escaping past her lips as she looked at Darren while petting a content Cooper and Declan.

"My apologies, Darren," Aenwyn snickered. "It was not my intention to laugh, but you were so serious only to stumble at the end and I could not help myself."

"It's fine. You seem better at least," Darren groused.

"And on the topic of friends, I suppose that it has been a long while since I considered anyone a friend. I am grateful that you consider me to be one."

Darren straightened in his seat. "So, does that mean…"

"Yes," Aenwyn answered with a smile. "We are indeed friends."

Darren let out a breath he didn't know he was holding and grinned. _Maybe today wasn't too bad_, he thought to himself. They spent the rest of the time waiting for the others to finish packing in comfortable silence.

* * *

"We have a problem."

The room was dark and made of stone walls, ceiling, and floor. A wooden table with five chairs sat in the middle with only a single candle to light the room. Of the five chairs, four were filled by an attendant, each with a cloak to hide their features from the other. A heavy-set man continued to speak.

"My contact in Chrimata has been slain," he said in a low tone.

"And what does this mean for us?" a female voice next to him asked amusedly. "With our resources, we should be able to… acquire additional staff to easily replace what we need."

"Our problem, harlot," the woman growled as the man spoke, "is that this contact has been confirmed to be connected to our organization."

"So, it was your incompetence of choosing a suitable person that led to us here. Unsurprising for one in your 'elevated' position," the woman sneered. While the cloaks hid their faces, the man's body language shouted his vexation. He sat up to shout his fury.

"Why is it that the lesser races always squabble among each other?" a taller man interrupted. His voice, sounding as if he was on the verge of singing, was colored with contempt. "It is as if you are children, quarreling over your toys. Then again," he continued with a sick grin, "I suppose I should not expect much from the gnats."

The two the taller man spoke of bristled in indignation and went to defend themselves as the last of the four sat quietly.

"Rocks and dust, it's times like this that make me question why I even bother with these people," she mumbled to herself. Her stout figure and rumbling voice went unnoticed as the arguing only continued to grow.

_**SLAM**_

The only door at the far end of the room banged against the wall, effectively silencing any further talk.

A cloaked figure walked through the door with heavy steps. While the cloaks of the first four served their purpose of simply being unassuming, the last one had faded silver embroidery on the edges of the cloth. There were patches on the cloak that showed wear and tear, but it was far from destroyed.

"It seems that I can't leave any of you for five minutes before some new problem arises," the figure's deep voice said as he took the last seat. He gave a disinterested wave at the portly man. "So tell me, what is it now?"

The others in the room calmed down and the shorter man spoke up. "I-"

"And don't give me some half-baked excuse," the newcomer interrupted with a drawl. "I want to know who's at fault and why."

With an indignant look at the interruption, the portly man continued. "Well, as I explained before, a man in my employ was killed and he was connected to Serenity. I do not have clear information on who were the ones to kill him, but I do know they are heading towards Vasilikos."

"My lord," the woman next to him spoke up. "Allow me to deal with them. I can do better than some noble who sits in his high tower all day without a care in the world."

"Silence woman!" the noble yelled. "All you know is how to frolic among the Snowlands with those wasteful explorers! If you had any semblance of thought, you would know to use that substantial funding of yours to the betterment of our kingdom rather than some fanciful notion of lost civilizations and treasure."

The woman stilled. With careful movements, her arms moved to her sides in an almost relaxed posture. "Insult me however you want," she said in a deadly whisper, "but I will not have you insult the good people of the Explorer's League. If I think I even hear something along the lines of such…"

As she trailed off, a pair of knives quickly appeared in her hands. The man, seeing the threat for what it was, responded with sparks of electricity beginning to travel across his arms. The two continued to glare at each other as a charged air began to build up around them.

"I do so love a good show."

The tension broke as the two looked over at the taller man who spoke.

"Watching such barbaric acts of posturing is a rare delight, truly." With a sigh, the man leaned on an arm. Then he smirked. "It is a shame that I will eventually outlive it like most other things."

The two growled and began to focus their anger at him when a chill went up their spines. The hairs at the back of their necks stood up as an instinctual fear rose up in them. The shadows began to expand and the candle in the middle of the room began to flicker in waning strength.

"I will not tolerate any petty disputes in my presence," the newer member said, relaxed in contrast to what happened moments ago. "And besides, we've found the reason why we were called here in the first place." He turned to the heavy-set man. "You have failed me."

The accused man sputtered and stood up. "I-I did no such thing! My contact-"

"Is now a dead man and worse, is connected to us. That means you. Have. Failed. Me."

"I will not be spoken to in such a way! I am GAH-"

Shadows wrapped around the man and forced him back into his seat. Black blades formed from the cocoon and were aimed towards his body.

"And lest you forget your debt and who I am," the previously relaxed man hissed, "let me remind you who gave you the means and power of your position. I may forgive, but I do not forget. Do I make myself clear?"

The trapped man nodded frantically, never letting his eyes waver from the blades that threatened to gouge him.

"Good."

With a now flick of his finger, the shadows melted away from their target and back into the floor. The portly man heaved a sigh of relief as his bonds lessened and he sank into the chair.

"Your punishment for the failure of letting our organization be known is to deal with these new issues," the Shadow Magi said. The portly man straightened with an affronted look but ultimately nodded in resignation. "Now, is there anything else that needs addressing? What about you?" the man asked, looking at the stout woman. "We haven't heard anything on your end yet."

"There is nothing wrong, my lord," the stout woman said with a small bow. "I am simply grateful for your support of my cause."

"Hrm, it seems that at least one of you still has manners," the Shadow Magi said with a grumble. "And you, elf?"

"Everything goes according to plan, honored," the voice of the elf sang.

"Then I hope the Explorers League is still on track?" the man asked the taller woman.

"Yes, my lord," the woman replied. "Progress is being made."

"Wonderful. Then this meeting is adjourned."

Hearing dismissal in his voice, the original four stood up and walked out the door to their respected areas as the man sat still. Waiting for them to leave him, the man heard the responding click as the door closed behind them. He waited a few more moments to make sure they were gone then pulled the hood of his cloak down.

White hair that was hidden from the world spilled out to his shoulders. Pale skin marred with small nicks here and there and red eyes showed themselves. His features would be described as handsome if not for the large scaring across his right side. Bringing up a hand, he willed the shadows to dance across his fingers as he whispered to himself.

"It's been a while since I've seen you two. I've missed you _so_ much over the years."

With a smile, the shadows formed into the shape of a man and woman. The pair of shadows began to dance to an unheard tune as the man watched with a content look. Then his eyes grew cold. He formed his hand into a fist and watched as the shadows around the room converged on the dancing figures in front of him. He sat back and hummed as they were swallowed by the darkness.

"I hope you've missed me too."

**A/N: A bit shorter than usual, but now we've got some plot to work with.**

**Also, announcement time. I'm taking what I hope to be a six month break or so to work on a side project that I've put off for far too long. I also need a bit of time to work on this story cause I'm running out of ideas fast. **

**I hope I'm not putting anyone off and I'll see you whenever.**


End file.
